From Darkness to Light
by Poisonedyoke
Summary: When a sleeping evil stirs and the only ones who notice are bound to only observe...who will be able to save Equestria? Will the Elements of Harmony be enough or will the world need a Champion? HIE(Human In Equestria)
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns all rights to original MLP: FIM Characters, this is a purely nonprofit FanFiction.**

**I would like to start off by saying that MLP takes great measure to show our little ones that no matter what dangers and challenges that are thrown at us we can always find help in our friends. This being my first fiction with MLP I'd like plenty of PMs and reviews. I write to please and any constructive criticism is welcome, thank you.**

Chapter one: Earth and Sky

When Creation began, when Time and Space began, there was Earth and Sky.

Earth in his hands alone held all living things, gave them homes, food, life and love. Sky, one who rose and set the Sun and Moon and gave all living things beautiful days and nights that lifted the soul and let the mind soar. From on high did she watch as Earth nurtured life, protecting them, providing for them. From bellow Earth had his breath stolen with every setting sun and rising moon, Skys beauty was out casted by her love of dreams.

Space and Time held no affection for either, for they could not love like two beings so close to the wonder of life that they would not allow Sky to join with Earth, they held her prisoner in their icy grips, just as they locked Earth away in his very body. Until twilight.

When both Sun and Moon shared the open spaces of Sky did she break free of Space and Time and before they could stop her she dove into Earth. With a mighty heave she pulled him from his prison, his body and broke his chains. So much power such an act called for that Sky found it impossible to return to the void with Earth so they may be together in the heavens.

This was Space and Times final punishment to Sky, for breaking her vow to watch over Sun and Moon from on high, she would be forever bound to Earth, shapeless, nothing but soul energy in purity.

Earth, spirit himself but not powerless fashioned a body for Sky, that of a pony, one of her favorite creatures of Earth. When her soul entered the clay sculpture it cracked, and shattered, and before Earth stood the first unicorn. With access to magic once more, focusing her soul energy Sky once again rose and set the celestial bodies.

Earth created another clay pony for himself so the two may be with one another both physically and spiritually. As the clay fell Earth found himself in the body of a normal pony, only to find that his magic, his soul energy was transformed into something that could carve the ground and plant life. With his soul he shaped and changed pony kind. Soon the land was full of pegasi and unicorns, there was life, love, and finally Earth and Sky made home on an island.

Not just any island, but one fashioned by Earth and enchanted by Sky to float above the ground, miles in the air, so close to the heavens. So close, so very close, and so very, very far.

Sky soon gave birth to a filly, this filly with her white coat and multihued mane seemed to float in the Suns light. When Sky rose the Sun this young foal would be awaken and instantly start giggling as she was doused in the warmth of the Sun. One night, after her second child was thrashing around inside her Sky did not awake for the rising of the sun. And yet did she find herself in the Suns light, being warmed.

Standing not far away, was her first born, lifted by the Sun's rays, spinning gracefully the foal was set down to face her mother. When she was born she wore no horn on her head, nor had she been graced with wings on her back, but here she was standing before Sky with horn alight and wings spread. Celestia of Sky and Earth became the first Alicorn, Alicorn of the Sun. The Suns champion, as further proof upon both flanks sat the Suns eternal emblem.

When Celestia was a foal of five winters her sister was born. Under the light of a new moon, with no stars in the heavens, Lunista of Sky and Earth was born. With her first wails, her first breaths of the world the Moon suddenly shone in its fullest. When Lunista opened her eyes an explosion filled the night with more stars than even Space and Time could count, for they tried. Unlike her sister, Lunista, Daughter of Moon, was Alicorn at birth. The Moon had her champion, just as the Sun, and upon her flanks stood a thumbnail moon on a blackened background.

Lunista was all her sister was not, where Celestia was bright as the midday sky, Lunista was as darkly beautiful as a deep night, her mane and tail deep blue with the stars twinkling inside. A perfect mirror of her star filled nights.

Earth, saw that his time was ending, that he and Sky were no longer needed in this creation. For the ground was nurtured and protected by the ponies of the Earth. The sky was cared for and maintained by the ponies of Sky. The Alicorns of Sun and Moon, now over seventy winters old, obviously they had gained their parents immortality, rose and set the celestial bodies.

With one stomp of his hoof Earth raised a mighty city from the ground, in the center of this city on the edge of a mountain stood a large castle. He named this the city and castle of Canterlot. Earth and Sky stood on the tallest balcony and proclaimed that this land, that Equestria was now under the loving rule of their two children, and that they were leaving.

The two Alicorn sisters were shocked as their mother and father stepped back and turned to them. With a sudden light Space and Time appeared before the family, nothing but soul energy floating before them. With Space focusing on Earth and Sky and Time watching the sisters they spoke as one.

They proclaimed that though Earth and Sky had turned against them, that they have watched them live their lives here. And seeing as their roles were no longer needed offered them their rightful place in the heavens. If they left with them, they could never return to this Creation, cursed to be observers such as themselves, Space and Time. With tears in their eyes and love in their hearts Earth and Sky bade farewell to their beloved daughters.

In a flash of light, Earth and Sky were gone. Their bodies of clay shattered, turning to dust, while their souls found their place amongst the stars. After nearly two hundred winters, Earth and Sky were home.

Many winters pass, Celestia and Lunista seasoned rulers of Equestria find themselves in the brace of war.

The great Draconic war.

After many bloody battles, much of their land is in ruins, many ponies lay still in pools of their comrades blood. Taking to the last battle the sisters over power and seal in stone the last Draconic, their power granted by six relics found in a part of their world that was unknown, unexplored, but never understood.

With their forces decimated the sisters started to rebuild. Thinking it best to gather resources from outlying lands Lunista gathered her Midnight Guard, her personal warriors and readied them for their expansion. In her way stood Celestia, and her warriors of the Sun, they greatly outnumbered Lunista and her warriors, and under pressure Lunista was forced to stay and rebuild without the much needed resources. Celestia no longer listened to her younger sibling. Equals no more.

In her heart did crawl, the ever waiting, ever patient darkness, Lunista of the Darkened Moon rose as The Nightmare Moon.

War savaged the land once again.

The War of The Two Sisters lasted but a short time, and yet it seemed to cause more bloodshed than even the Draconic war. With a last ditch effort on Celestias part the Relics of Peace were used against one of the only two creatures that could wield them, and as such Nightmare Moon was banished. Imprisoned on her beloved Moon.

To stone did turn the Relics of Peace, inscribed on these stone orbs was not their name though, at that moment the Relics became the Elements, the Elements of Harmony. Never again to be used by Celestia or Lunista.

Celestia, now alone, ruled over Equestria, she alone like her mother rose and set Sun and Moon. With every Moon Celestia would stare, and back down would stare Nightmare Moon. With sorrow and self-hate in her heart Celestia never forgave herself. She knew now what she had done, the trust she shattered, for ever more Celestia never slept peacefully, haunted by her sisters screams and cries for her.

All the while Earth and Sky, never to help, never to interfere wept as they watched their most beloved daughters writhe in anguish. Through their tears they saw a great darkness rear its ugly head, darkness older than Space and Time. Celestia and Lunista were blind to the stirrings, Space, Time, Earth, and Sky bound not to interfere, watched in horror as this….nameless evil set its sights on Creation itself.

Space and Time found a small chance, _THEY _could not interfere but a Champion could!

A champion that was not of _THIS _Creation, so with a joint spell, Space, Time, Earth, and Sky began searching alternate Creations for one who could hopefully contain all six Elements of Harmony. The only chance any of the Creations had of survival.

Earth and Sky found their Champion of Harmony in the form of a human man, not even seventeen winters old. Space and Time were skeptical but the signs were there. This man, this child, showed more love and tolerance than even they could expect from a race so young and violent.

Champion of Harmony?

Only Time could tell.

.


	2. Chapter 2

**Ya'll still with me? I hope so, I love to hear from you out there, tell me how I'm doing and help me keep track so we can see this through together. **

**Disclaimer: Purely fan made, all characters and original story rights of MLP: FIM belong to Hasbro.**

Chapter Two: Talking Ponies, Sure why not?

"AWE COME ON!" I scream into my mouth piece of my computer head set.

I watch in frustration as my level thirty three mage was vanquished by a level thirty two rouge. "That's the game Stiles!" came the eager voice of my opponent and long friend, from his line.

I rage quit almost breaking my computer and get up for the fridge. It was well past midnight and with murder on my mind I started making myself dinner. I had let time slip, thirty minutes I had said, thirty minutes had turned to an hour, an hour to two….three….four…..five…

I bit into my burger placing my ear buds in, maybe that's why I didn't hear the shimmer of sound that comes with any form of magic; and also why I nearly choked when instead of my kitchen I was faced with a dark and empty void. With nothing else to do I continued to eat my sandwich for it may very well be the last good thing I'll ever taste.

A sudden laughter filled the emptiness, so loud and deep that I felt more than heard it, pulling the headphones out I look around finding nothing, no light and definitely nobody that could have made that laugh. "Hello?" I call helpfully into the dark.

"Hello." I turned and nearly ran smack into a horse.

No not a horse a very large pony, one about six inches taller than my six-five. "Whoa boy" I said reaching my hand out to touch him, only to fall flat on my ass.

"You don't touch somepony without their permission you hairless ape" the pony said.

"…" I stare blankly at this pony as it offers me a….hoof, I take it only to cringe when instead of a hard hoof but a soft pliable…thing gripped me slightly and hauled me up.

"Nice to meet you in person Stiles, I'm Earth and this is my life mate, Sky" He said introducing a smaller pony that had walked in from the darkness.

She was much smaller than Earth, the top of her head only reached my chin "…..My pleasure?" I return with a grimacing smile.

"There, told you he wouldn't 'freak out' as this race likes to say" said Earth, oh boy was he wrong but I wasn't going to say anything, "I knew he was the one"

Sky smiled and rolled her eyes; "Yes darling, you are always right" she looked at me and shook her head slightly, I laughed, they seemed nice enough.

"Um….if you don't mind….I'm the one for what?" I say pinching my arm hard enough to bruise, not a dream, maybe I'm dead.

"No you are not dreaming, and nor are you dead, you are….in a pocket of Space and Time, outside your world, and not in ours" Sky said pacing around me, she planted me squarely between her and Earth.

But I had not said anything….did she just smirk at me?

Earth must have noticed that I saw what she was doing and chuckled, "Not an idiot this one, he knows what you just did, but he did not see the others, he isn't the best but he'll improve"

I spin around noticing that two orbs of light were floating with me between them as well, "Okay this went from pleasant to concerning… can I go home now?"

"Sorry but no, I'm afraid that now that you are here there is no going back, for I sense your potential and that has sealed your fate you naïve creature of this barren Creation" came a voice from one of the orbs, I seemed to hear it before the vibrations in the air reached my ear, a time distortion I assumed.

Guess all those physics classes might have been useful for something…not really given where I am.

Laughing nervously I hold up my hands, then thinking about it I stuffed the last two bites in my mouth, "So because of who I am you will be doing what to me?" I'd already given the idea of running away up; I mean look….where in the hell was I going to go?

"Not because of who you are but because of who you will _become_ we are taking you with us, to a place that needs you more than you are needed here" This voice came from _EVERYWHERE_, I could only stare at the remaining orb of light.

"space and time…." I whisper to myself

"What was that human?" Earth said smirking.

"Space" I said pointing to one orb, "And Time" I said pointing to the other, "A pocket of Space and Time you said…." I shake my head in disbelief, "This is so unreal it's not even worth thinking about, bye" useless or not I was going to try to run.

No matter how much I moved I didn't leave the center of them, they just seemed to shift along the darkness, always spaced equally away from me. Out of breath I sit down heavily, "Okay….I figured that was pointless"

"Then why try?" asked Time, he saw that logically it wouldn't work so why bother?

"I speculated, I didn't know, so instead of just believing it to be and giving up I had to try" I shrugged taking a deep breath, "My granddad told me that if you know you can you will, if you believe you can't you won't, so unless you want to die keep trying, for to stop is to die"

"You have made a good choice Earth" Space said, "He just might pull this off"

"Can you at least tell me what you want from me?" I ask getting up

"We need your help to save our world, we are bound by oath to never interfere with our Creation, but an evil has awakened that must be stopped and even our strongest warriors will not be enough" Time said, "We need a champion to combat this enemy for we cannot"

"Why should I care what happens to your world?" I ask, they pulled me from my life, I mean for God's sake I have animals to look after, "Why should I care if your world faces destruction, it does not touch mine"

I do care, even though it's not my home it is home to somebody, to somebodies, I would help but I was ticked, they could have just asked ya know? But I did get the rise out of Earth I was expecting.

"WHAT!" he yelled stomping forward making the darkness boom, though he never got closer, I guess the same principals applied for him that applied to me, interesting. He stopped and slammed his front legs down causing a massive quake to knock me down, "HOW DARE YOU CONDEM OUR HOME TO THIS FATE!"

"Calm down love" Sky said, "He did not mean it, he is frustrated, he has just been….kidnapped from his home, his life, his world by creatures he did not believe in, he will be forever the only of his kind in our world he knows this and yet he willingly goes with us, don't you?" she asked looking at me smiling like a mother would to a child she knew too well to be fooled by his antics.

"it is my curse" I whisper as I silently say goodbye to my friends and family, "I love you all" I stand up and at my tallest I turn towards Sky, "Yes I will help, you need only tell me what I must do" I'm so afraid, so very afraid. What have I just condemned myself to….what awaits me beyond the void.

"Close your eyes and don't stop, to stop is to die" Sky says solemnly.

Suddenly light blasts from behind my eyes, I see a white orb surrounded by darkness, and slowly three…auras make their way toward the pure orb, staining it, Blue, Red, and Green. As soon as the first of the auras touch what could only be my soul, my essence I buckled. It feels like I was cast into the center of the sun itself. I was burning. So much burning.

"Is this hell?" I think as I shout out in pain, never opening my eyes I watch as my soul is split evenly into three, as it separates something darts into the center and suddenly I grow cold.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, YOU CANNOT BE HERE IT IS FORBIDDEN!" Space and Time shout together their blue aura quivering with rage.

"It is not forbidden, I have a stake in this battle too you old coots" and with a sickening pull I watch as a sliver of each piece of my soul is pulled together and stained purple. Whoever it was vanished from my consciousness as suddenly as he appeared.

"This wasn't supposed to happen, what now?" Space asked frustrated as I feel his massive soul withdraw from me.

"Just because we didn't plan for it doesn't mean it wasn't supposed to happen" Time says, I only now realize that Time is a she, her aura to much alike to Skys as she and Earth withdraw as well.

"We will block the memory till the time is right, then we will let him be learned in the…." Sky was saying but I lost it before I could catch anything else.

I was no longer in that pocket of Space and Time; I was on a precipice a strong wind blowing from all sides. I kept my balance for about as long as it took to breath and then I was thrown over and with a torn cry I fell through darkness and into light.

**Please R&R and have a little R&R till the next chapter, and that will be…well I'm not too sure yet hehe ^w^**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello again, imminent time skip ahead**

**Disclaimer: Characters and original story are all owned by Hasbro**

Chapter three: Sentenced to Six years of maximum security training by two ponies and two balls of energy….great

Sweat permeated my cotton shirt and leather armor as the sun beat down upon me. I sit here, atop what could only be a small castle in the middle of a jungle meditating on a difficult transportation spell. It was so damn muggy here, the air so thick you could barely breathe, and so heavy that even standing was a chore. But it was filled with magic, filled to the brim; you could hear it in the air.

Let tell you how difficult it is to try and concentrate when you have four entities floating around in your head making comments about your memories. Gawfing as they watched threw your eyes heard what you thought and experienced your emotions. Space and Time, two beings that never had the chance to experience _living_ enjoyed it the most, so I didn't mind that much. But when you have a male earth pony laughing at your awkward advances on the girls you liked, it got annoying. Fast.

One month of my six year training had gone by, and thanks to the-ever-present-in-my-head-Space-and-Time I was good enough in Order Magic that I was able to take the cotton field next to this castle and turn it into many articles of magically fitted clothing. And take the skin of my felled dinners and create a thickly padded armor for my chest, arms and legs.

They had no problem with my eating meat, though it seemed that most animals had a meager amount of intelligence, I still ate well. I'm not cold; I just know that the natural order applies. I needed the meat and by the sickly size of the creatures they needed less competition. Did I feel bad, yes I did, immensely sometimes I'd almost lose my appetite as I remembered the all too human fear in their eyes, almost. Call me cold, heartless, but meat was meat and by the calories I was burning I needed the extra burst of protein.

My boots, crafted from the finest leather my magic could make with steel lining the toes. I found old rusty steel arms, swords and axes in a small armory and I was able to imbue the metals with a cleansing spell and rid them of impurities. Along with my fashionable boots I was able to scrounge enough metal for a small bastard sword. Thanks to nightly dream training sessions with a humanized Earth I was quiet proficient with it. Though I did awake with mighty migraines every morning…..bastard.

Earth also taught me Wild Magic, the ability to unsure growth and rejuvenation. He showed me how to channel my energy into strength and stamina, how to control the ground, how to shape and form it to my whim. It was quite awesome if ya think about it. I think Wild Magic or Nature Magic as I liked to call it was amazing, being able to take the natural things around you and help them grow and thrive in the way _you want_.

Sky, because of the way she broke free of Space and Time, had discovered Chaos Magic, magic that took all things we believe we knew about the world and turned them on their head. I mean for God's sake I was able to charge my phone using the electricity in the air thanks to Chaos Magic. Not to mention that because of it I now have a very comfortable bed and shower system and a room with A/C. For some reason or another I couldn't conjure any type of modern weapons though, no guns basically. I could make as many medieval weapons as I wanted from my soul energy, just not modern ones, I could live with that.

Space had a neat little gift for me to learn, how to spindle the energy around me. He said that energy is infinite, the soul limited, but if you spindle the unfocused and limitless energy around me constantly, my soul would expand and the longer I could hold a spell and the more I could do before becoming tired. I learned how to spindle energy in my sleep; this made Space laugh because he never thought of that. So while I slept my soul spindled energy.

After nearly four and a half years I could maintain even the most difficult spells almost as long as Sky could, I could maintain a dragon fire spell for nearly a week straight without breaking a sweat, I never was patient enough to see just how long I could keep it up but let's just say when I stopped the ground had turned to magma…..oops. I also found that when my soul energy was running low that spindling the residue energy from spells that was still in the air restored a more than meager amount of my power, this discovery pleased them immensely because it meant I could go just a little bit longer each day. Fucking fantastic.

At this point I had mastered all but one of my magics, Chaos Magic. I could create just about anything in my imagination, but I couldn't seem to get them to go back…..I just didn't know how to turn physical things back into energy. Sky said it was the same principal of teleportation, only simpler, maybe that's why I couldn't do it I was over thinking it. Taking a slow breath I see the molecules of the botched summoning's, a crooked chair, half a sword, broken CD player, all remnants of my early Chaos attempts. I excited the molecules till they were vibrating apart and _poof_ they were gone.

I had done it, in four short years I had mastered all types of magic…..now what?

"You have only mastered three, now all of your attention can be focused on the last, and possibly the most dangerous" Sky said, I could hear the….disgust in her voice, the contempt.

Apparently I was made unaware of my ability of this new magic and I didn't like that…..

"You absolute fucking assholes!" I say aloud, "You fucking two faced bastards didn't tell me I had another type of magic, forget the whole 'It was all for your own good' bullshit, I can feel your fear and hate of this magic, it wasn't for my good or Creations good, it was to serve yourselves" I mentally turn my back on them and physically pace around my room.

I could feel Time nodding, "Yes we were afraid that this magic would consume you, it's what it does, consumes you till you are but a shell of yourself, we _were_ afraid of it, and for you" Time usually only spoke on occasion, I had barley herd from her since getting here. "Please understand we could not allow that to happen"

Shaking my head I throw my hands up "I sacrifice everything for you and this damned world, my life, my dreams, my family, you could at least be honest with me" I focus back on the four, their auras dimmed in shame, "I would have never tinkered with something you deem dangerous enough to warrant even your caution, I trusted you completely, and this is what happens"

The reason I was so upset was because they had hidden a part of my soul from me, _MY_ soul. The very basic and primeval part of my existence, a part of me that I should have known and nurtured. But I had two more years to make up for it.

"It's whatever, so who will teach me this….Dark Magic?" I say summoning the name from somewhere in my mind.

"I will" came a stranger's voice, it was in the same shape as Space and Time, only it was a black orb, "Finally we meet, my name is Void, bringer of fear and death, or like you say Dark Magic incarnate" its voice was….oily and smooth. Kinda like a politician.

I mentally build walls that I had discovered I could do a while ago, they kept all parts of my soul and inner thoughts to myself and if needed offered a nigh impenetrable defense. "Just so you know, I will learn from you, but I doubt trust will come quickly Oh bringer of Fear and Death" I know these types, they try to use you, mold you into what _THEY_ want. I'm not blind, this thing was extremely dangerous.

"I'm hurt!" Said Void as it shimmered from my mind and into the physical world, I open my eyes to a posh looking gentleman in formal attire and a deep green over coat and cane, "Not really I understand, though I want nothing more than your willing subjugation….I mean participation" he smiled at his own little joke.

I smirked, I might like him after all, "So you can appear before me but they cannot" I motioned in the air meaning Sky, Earth, and Space and Time.

"Oh those silly fools made a vow of Observation, to always watch but never interfere" it waved its hand dismissively, "Such a dull way to go about eternity, I rather like messing with the world, keeps things interesting"

I laughed as I heard the others grumbling, apparently they didn't think it was interesting, "Well whatever you did left a lasting impression on them, anyway so what's up to bat first?"

Without so much as a howdy doo Voids eyes began to glow a sickly green, when purple smoke leaked from his eyes, "The first lesion is _FEAR!" _he said before tossing a glowing green orb of energy at me, without much resistance it struck home sending me into my worst nightmare.

I was alone, so alone. I had no one, no friends, no love, no home. I would be happier dead, "Awe how sad" came a posh voice, "The big bad Champion being afraid of being alone, as sickening as it is to admit, fear is so easy to squash" As I lay there frozen in fear Void steps from the darkness, somebody came for me!

I scramble towards it and almost curl around its legs trembling, "Pish posh young one, all of our fears are just that, nothing but our imagination, if you can break yours, you can use it against anybody" disappearing from my grasp it vanishes and I cry out alone again.

"You are not alone" Came Skys voice, I look around not seeing anyone, "We're friends right?" she asked and I nodded her and I had become close friends since me coming here, "Then you will never be truly alone will you?" I shake my head…I can move!

To stop is to die.

MOVE!

To stop is to die.

MOVE DAMN YOU!

To stop is to die.

"MOVE!" I scream and suddenly I'm back in my room with Void clapping slowly, breathing hard I sit down on my bed and let a broken sob escape, "You ever do that to me again and I won't care if you _are_ a god, I will kill you" I say not looking at Void.

"Very, very, good my young student, turn that fear against me, use it to fuel your hate of everything that wants to harm you, show them what it means to fear absolutely" Void said I could hear its grin getting larger and larger, "Now you know Fear" stalking over to me it lifts my head by my hair and I finally see its eyes, red and goat like staring back at me, "Use it" Dropping my head it sits down next to me.

"Other than that its easy peasy, take the darkness that is always lurking in even the truest of hearts and use it, use it like you would your sword, use it to destroy" it pats my shoulder gently and as I turn to it I see that its eyes are no longer fiery , "Never let the darkness take hold of you though, use it like a poisoned dart, point it at your enemies not yourself for it is fickle and will attack anything and everything, give it direction and you control it, let it run free and it controls you"

After that small show of affection Void never got close enough to touch me, but for two years I was hounded by The Bringer of Fear and Death. I became most proficient at Dark Magic; soon I could summon shadows to do my biding, Fake Life Curse, as Void had aptly named it. Soulless creatures with no will of their own, they could really clean though….some even seemed…happy to have something mundane to do. Everything was a curse, no spells, just curses, Jinx Curse, Death Curse, Reanimation Curse, and oh my personal favorite, the Make Your Enemy Explode Curse or as I called it the IED (Improvised Explosive Device if ya'll didn't know) Curse….

I decided I didn't like Dark Magic; it had its uses for spying and such but other than that it was strictly combat magic. Useful in everything war like but not polite for company. I didn't even like the Fake Life Curse, I didn't use it unless absolutely necessary, like say when Earth got done beating me into a pulp in my mind and I couldn't move physically the next day. Yeah that happened a lot….

Finally Void stopped showing up, at one point in my mind I heard him saying something about me to Space and Time but other than that it was gone….I guess it taught me all it wanted….I felt there was more to learn but that Void wasn't going to just show me the secrets of Darkness while his enemies were close at hand watching.

I understood the feeling…..


	4. Chapter 4

**Hello again hope you've been enjoying the story so far, please R&R**

**Disclaimer: Hasbro is sole owner and proprietor of the Original MLP: FIM characters and story.**

Chapter four: Technicolor donkeys all look alike to me

Finally my six year penance was up, I'd lost all sense of time but I knew when it was, how did I know? Well two things, one I could feel the spell that kept me in this section of forest and others out lift, I started being able to feel magic, Time had said it was because I was so sensitive to all magic that even the slightest spell in a hundred yards I could feel. And Second I was woken out of dead sleep by Earth yelling inside my head.

"Wake up you damned hairless ape!" He seemed….agitated and excited at the same time, "Our Daughter of The Darkened Moon comes!"

"….L….Lunista right?" I yawn getting up and stretching, "She was….banished to the moon by….Cel….something" I started to dress in my normal clothes and armor, "Celestia" I said as I belted my sword.

"Yes, she comes, what happens next Stiles, you will not interfere, you will not but observe till we say understood?" Sky said seriously, when she talks like that she means business, "Cast a non-detection charm on yourself and do not, DO NOT interfere, what will happen must happen understand?"

I physically bow, "Yes my queen" I started saying that so they understood that I would follow their exact orders and nothing more, it simplified a lot of things. I like to be a smart ass most days but I also knew when to stop. I'm a guy….what do ya expect?

I feel a powerful teleportation spell begin in the entry way and end at the astronomy tower, using my very own type of teleporting, I use my chaos alongside the order, the order teleports me while the chaos shuts off the noise magic makes when used. So there was no sound as I found myself behind a tall mare, she might be as tall as Sky.

I could feel the Darkness pouring off of her soul, "This is what happens when Darkness finds a foothold in your soul" came voids whispered voice.

"Mmm-hmm" I say mentally, I watched as a small lavender pony stood shakily, I saw the fear in her heart, but the determination in her soul, with barley a shake of her mane she charged at the towering mare. "Brave this one….I like her already" I say, again in my mind.

And apparently not stupid either, for as Nightmare Moon ran at her, the little ones horn rang with what was obviously a teleportation spell and Nightmare Moon found herself running at nothing. The lavender mare was crouched at five orbs I had failed to notice next to me. I was so close to her I could hear her mumbling.

"come on….come on…work damn you" as she concentrated her magic on the relics, a small spark jumped from her horn to the first of the orbs before Nightmare Moon appeared in front of her and sent the small filly flying. She would have landed harshly but I sent a silent shadow to cushion her fall just a tad bit, nobody noticed but Earth started blustering in my mind.

"We told you…" I mentally shut them out, I know what they said but damn it I won't let anybody get hurt if I could help it…

"You little FOAL!" Nightmare Moon yelled her voice that of an experienced ruler, "You think you could use the Relics of Peace against me again?!" She stomped the orbs to shards, "NOW THE NIGHT WILL LAST FOR EVER!"

"TWILIGHT!" multiple voices called, I saw five other ponies rush up the stairs and at the site of…..Twilight, they ran to her aid.

"It should've worked" she cried to them, "The Elements of Harmony are still dormant"

"So what is it?" I asked Sky, I could hear Earth mumbling about disrespect, "Elements of Harmony or Relics of Peace?"

"Both, before being used against Lunista they were known as the Relics, but something changed and inscribed on the orbs was the name, Elements of Harmony" Sky said watching through my eyes, longing to hold her baby once more.

Twilight gasped, then started to smile, she turned to Nightmare Moon with a triumphant grin, "You think you destroyed them, they are not what you remember, they are relics no more, they have long since left those useless stone orbs" She turned to her friends, "They freed their spirits to be used by the _rightfully_ few who could use them as they should!"

"You know not what you speak foal!" Nightmare Moon said, though her eyes betrayed her.

"Yes I do, in my moment of need Applejack comforted me with the simple truth, she was Honest with me, Fluttershy in the face of danger showed Kindness to a great beast and we passed safely" As she was talking she was pointing with her hoof to each of her friends….convenient, "In the face of nightmarish apparitions Pinkie Pie found reason to laugh, dispelling the figments of our imagination, at great personal cost Rarity gave solace to a distraught sea serpent" She finally points to the last pony, a cyan one with wings, "And Rainbow Dash, she did not falter at the temptation of joining league of fliers though it is her dream, she showed how Loyal she is to her friends"

I sigh internally…I hate long heartfelt speeches, I really do. Get to the fucking point already!

"When these five elements come together they unlock the last, the Element of Magic!" at this shards from the crushed orbs floated up and towards the fillies, taking form as the same images of their cutie marks, a crown settled upon Twilights head and when she opened her glowing white eyes a powerful rainbow beam arced its way up and down toward Nightmare Moon.

And with one last outcry Nightmare Moon was engulfed in blinding white light, "GO TO HER NOW!" Sky and Earth screamed at me, I could understand why, I had felt the moment the energy struck it had ripped off Lunistas aura, her soul was now dissipating she would die…soon.

I was at her side, the non-detection spell falling as I knelt beside her. Her breath was so shallow I could barely see the rise and fall of her chest, "Damn….this might be close"

"What are you doing near my sister creature!" I looked up to see Celestia, outlined by the rising sun, "Get away from her now!"

"Shut your sun kissing face and back down a moment your _highness_" I spit at Celestia, I didn't mean to bark at her but I needed to concentrate.

The fastest way for my aura to shield her soul would be to introduce it into her stomach, that's where the soul physically sits metaphorically, unfortunately that meant a kiss of life to a horse…er…pony. "Oh my sweet lord why me, I mean I have nothing against ponies but….why me?"

I quickly gather my aura into my mouth as I feel her heart flutter; I put her head in my lap, once my aura was spilling from the corners of my mouth I purified it so it was soul aura not tainted by any one type of magic. It had to be that way so that her soul would accept it, I bent my head and sealed my mouth around Lunistas lips.

I don't know what surprised me more, the human feel of her lips or the searing agony that was her soul. One or the other made me gasp. I'd like to convince myself it was the searing soul agony…but I'm not too sure.

Celestia and company were….less than pleased to say the least, though it was only Celestia that attacked me. I nearly laughed at the pitiful attempt to hurt me. Her blast of energy dissipated as I caught it with my bare hand and crushed it in a fist. I let my aura coat the same hand, my aura is a deep forest green no matter what magic I use, this time it was my Wild magic. I used it to bind Celestia to the floor with thigh thick vines, I noticed Celestia trying to use her magic and with a flick of Chaos I removed her horn from her head, sealing her magic.

With a cry of shock and dismay I looked up to see the Elements of Harmony in utter shock at a now hornless Celestia that was thrashing about uselessly against her binds. I have a small private smile as I hear Earth grumbling about going too far and Sky laughing her ass off. Space and Time were amused I could tell. Celestias horn appeared in my hand, I was surprised at the size and how light it was though it was hollow, if she were to stab someone with it it'd go right through your chest without a hitch.

As the last of the pure soul aura settled around Lunistas soul I felt a shudder run through her as she relaxed in my arms. I slowly let her down to the floor, her eyes were open and I couldn't help at how much like a night sky they looked. I smiled blushing furiously, "N-nice to meet you Miss Lunista of Sky and Earth"

At the mention of their parents both Princesses seemed to jerk, "How do you know our mother and fathers names?" Celestia asked from her bound position on the floor….still trying to get up.

Standing up I notice that Lunista is barely to my chest, looking over I see that Twilight and her friends might reach my stomach or chest at the top of their heads. I feel out of place already in the physical company of ponies…great. I walk over to Celestia who stopped struggling as I approached her.

"Listen, I wasn't trying to…take advantage of Lunista, her soul was fading and to keep her from dying I had to immediately stabilized her" I glance at Lunista and blush lightly, "No disrespect, Princess Lunista"

"Please address us as Luna, Lunista is rather….old for this time we believe" Luna said not meeting my eye, she wouldn't look up to her sister either.

I bow slightly before taping the vines holding Celestia down with her horn, "I apologize about…your horn, but it was a dire situation, I hope you understand" as she got up I placed her horn on her head and bonded it back in place.

Shaking her head back and forth Celestia started laughing, "It is no trouble…I over reacted and I must be the one to apologize, it's just been so long since I've seen my sister" she looked down and smiled at her sister, "Sister…I can never make my wrongs to you better, but shall we rule together…again little sister?"

"Of course Celestia" She looked up to her sister and smiled tearfully, "We have missed you so!" she cried leaning into Celestia in what could be the equivalent of a hug.

I'm no softy, but I was touched at their reunion…but again I'm not very patient with sappy stuff either, "Now if you'll excuse me I have to pack my room, I think I might need to crash at one of your places for the time being" I said looking at the six elements, "Any one got a broom closest I could rent?"

"Broom closet sugar cube?" Applejack said, "You mean a barn, ah….no offense"

Rainbow Dash was laughing her ass off as the others just chuckled lightly not looking at me, I smirked and started walking away, "Hay don't go I'm sorry!" Applejack yelled.

"I'm just going to get my room" I said, I could hear them, their little hoofs clopping behind me, so cute.

"I think you meant your stuff right?" Twilight said coming up to my side as we descended the stair case, we'd cut through a couple of empty rooms and a void the long way through the entry hall.

"No I said what I meant" I grin as she scrunched her face at my wording, I like people like this. They're fun.

Half way down I saw Fluttershy fly overhead and floated down in front of me smiling and blushing heavily, "H-hi….I'm Fluttershy w-what's your name?" she was very good at flying backward I was surprised she could keep up a continuous spiral without bumping in to the walls.

"My name's Stiles" I said smiling, "Though you seem to have question on your face and I bet it has to do with you not knowing what sort of creature I am right?" I rubbed the back of my neck, I didn't like being the center of attention….usually.

"Oh that is correct " her wings fluttered nervously, "So what are you?"

"I'm a creature called a human from a different…reality" I say, I hear many of the company ooh and ahh, "Time, Space, Earth, and Sky, the four original beings of this reality found me in my home world and brought me here"

"Why ever so darling, don't you have friends and family where you're from?" Rarity interjected from behind me as we reach the end of the stairs.

Taking a quick left and opened a door heading through a dirty room causing Rarity to squeak at the dust, "Well I never really knew my family, I was an orphan and my adoptive parents died a few years back" They all made sad noises and Twilight bumbed against my side…I guess it was supposed to be comforting?

"As far as friends I only have a few people I don't mind hanging around, no girlfriend so I didn't leave much behind but my goldfish and parakeet" I finish as we rounded the last corridor and reached my room.

"That's so lonely, how can someone go through life with virtually no one?" Twilight said, when I looked at her she had her ears flat against her head and she looked down trodden.

"You just learn to not mind being alone" I said as I opened my door.

**I believe I'll leave it off here for now, hope to see your reviews.**


	5. Chapter 5

**As you've notice my updates will be periodical, the reason being is that I have no internet at home and must go to the library to upload chapters. I will have multiple chapters uploaded at a time to compensate. Sorry guys and girls.**

**Disclaimer: MLP: FIM is owned by Hasbro.**

Chapter five: First Impressions are a drag

As I opened my door I had to hold my hand out to keep Twilight from going in, "Excuse me Twilight I must pack my room"

"But…But!" She keeps trying to duck under my hand, "What is all that….what's that thing on the wall?" she was pointing at my TV and movies, if I know how it works I can make it from my Chaos Magic…cool huh? Running a repair shop came in use after all.

"You'll get a chance just wait" Stepping back and nearly dragging Twilight with me I raise my finger and trace the doorjamb from the top right down and around till I come back to the top right. I then hook my finger _behind_ the room itself and fold it down like a piece of paper in half, then half again and so on till it could fit in my back pocket. "There"

I turned to the group with pure conundrum etched into their faces…even the princesses who I didn't know had followed, "What?" it was a stupid thing to say but then again they were never personal students of Space.

"How?" was all Twilight said I don't think she was one to be dumbfounded easily.

"Well as Space has said all things are relative, especially space, time and distance, you saw it as a room, I saw it as a canvas, a drawing, thus it became one and I folded the space that once was three dimensional turned two, when I am ready I will place the drawing on a wall or doorjamb and see it as a three dimensional room and it will be again" I say squeezing past her, "Any more questions dear Twilight?"

"A few" she says before taking a deep breath.

I came to regret ever asking, she went on and on and on till we were almost back to her village, a place called Ponyville. How…quaint. I let the mares proceed me as we entered for I had never been allowed to venture forth till now; it was a cute little place off of the map. Even for it being so early there was little traffic and it seemed like it was lazy, in a good way. A wake up slowly and take time to smell the rose's way.

We were approaching Twilights house which was this awesome friggin tree house, it was amazing, I always loved tree houses. It got better when the inside was revealed to be a giant library, I was taught their almost cuneiform language while I was training.

"What good is an unread muscle head?" had been Sky's reasoning behind teaching me.

Though the one thing they forgot to teach me…that might have saved an aching jaw? Public edict. For as I passed by Applejack I had accidently patted her lower back, I meant it as a thanks for holding the door for me, even though I had to stoop to pass through. But apparently it meant something a whole lot different to them….

"YOU PERVERT!" was all the warning I was given before I found myself on the receiving end of Applejacks back hooves.

Laying there on the floor wondering what exactly I had done I heard Space and Time in my head, laughing their incorporeal asses off, I could have killed them. I could have killed them and not felt bad in the morning. I think all five of them had purposely not told me how to act around ponies.

"WHY THE HAY WOULD YOU THINK I'M THAT TYPE OF MARE YOU BUCKHEAD!" Applejack said glaring down at me.

"What did I do again?" I asked slowly sitting up, afraid to offend someone else, I saw that Fluttershy had fled from the room and was just now looking around the corner. Twilight was blushing but everyone else was having a jolly good time on my behalf. Rainbow Dash the most I believe, who was laughing so hard she was turning red in the face. The only other one not laughing was Luna who was looking at the floor, even so I could see the crimson on her cheeks.

"Y-you mean you don't know what you did?" Twilight stuttered slightly, tilting her head to the side.

"If I disrespected you Applejack I apologize most heartily" I said bowing my head, "I meant only to show my thanks for being kind enough to hold the door for me, no other intention was meant" I sat on my knees and looked up at them, "I was only taught to fight, I was not taught the proper interaction of ponies, I can tell you more ways than two of how to kill any creature in your world, ask me what certain physical gestures mean what to who and I know as much as a rock does about flying"

I was blabbering, I admit it, but by the looks everyone had whatever I had done had to be embarrassing. I didn't want my first day with other sentient creatures to start out so bad, I was nervous, first impressions and all. "I'm ashamed that there is this misunderstanding, I should have thought before I acted, please I didn't mean any harm Applejack, I'm sorry"

"Hay now sugar cube, it's all ok, no harm done, Ah'm sorry Ah over reacted, I forgot ya'll aren't from around here, sorry for bucking you in the face Stiles" Applejack leaned against me much like Twilight had done before, so it is a show of compassion and forgiveness so I leaned back to show I understood.

Celestia walked up and eyed me from head to toe "Stiles, you seem to be a kind soul, so I will bid farewell and allow my most favorite student to talk to you, Twilight you will give me a full report on this from here in Ponyville, despite our new friend here you must stay and learn what you can of friendship, understand Twilight?" Celestia said, she was rather long winded….kinda like her dad.

"I heard that you hairless ape" came Earths reply.

"Thank you Princess, thank you!" Twilight said running up to Celestia and leaning against her legs again, only this time Celestia swung her head down and around Twilights shoulders…a pony hug?

I stood and bowed to both Celestia and Luna, "Princesses, I bid ye a fare well, till next we meet" I felt humble as they both bowed in return, Luna sharing a small smile with me, Celestia looking at me then shaking her head, making sure her horn was still there no doubt.

"Fare thee well gallant Stiles, we thank you for saving us from fate most fearful" Came Lunas reply as she and her sister teleported away; I kinda liked the way she spoke…like old English.

With a loud grumble my stomach interrupted whatever Twilight was about to say, laughing I scratched my head, "Sorry Twilight, I'm a little hungry, saving princesses is a hard job….don't see how Mario does it"

"W-who's Mario?" Fluttershy squeaked out hiding behind the wall again as I suddenly looked at her, I'd forgotten she was there.

"Sneaky mouse, you startled me, and Mario is a fictional character from my world who goes around saving his princess from an evil villain, it's quite fun his adventures" I say smiling at her, "You know I was impressed by your flying at the ruins, it took me almost two years to get that good"

"W-hat…"

"What do you mean Stiles, I can't see any wings on you and I doubt you're any kind of good flyer" Rainbow Dash interrupted flying around me looking me up and down.

"Just because I wasn't born with my wings doesn't mean I don't consider them an extension of my being , after all I've trained very hard to be as good as I am" I say slightly hurt.

During my training Sky had taught me a bit of magic that allowed me to have my very own pair of wings, after casting the spell I saw what looked like angle wing tattoos on my back appear. After willing enough of my Chaos magic towards the tattoos they would glow and out would sprout two silver angle wings. Shredding any shirt and armor I might or might not be wearing at the time….found that out painfully quick.

"Let's see them then" Rainbow Dash said grabbing for the ties of my leather chest plate.

"How bout no?" I said side stepping her, "Later if I feel like it, it's not something you just flaunt around, besides, you didn't ask nicely" my stomach gave another almighty roar, "Besides I'm hungry…got any fruit in your kitchen Twi?" I ask not trying to mooch.

"Yeah sure, it's breakfast time anyway" Twilight said as I followed her to what had to be the kitchen.

"Ah need ta be goin Twilight, mah farm won't run itself ya know" Applejack called heading towards the door followed by Rarity and Pinkie Pie.

"Yes darling I must be going too, so many orders have come in and I'm already backed up as is, ta ta!" Rarity said walking glamorously out the door.

Bouncing around Pinkie Pie was talking so fast but I heard what sounded like "Cakes….run the store….party to plan" before she was gone.

It was going to take some time to get used to that one; I'm not an overly outgoing person and people like that take nearly all of my patience to deal with. I waved them goodbye and turned to find a small dragon staring up at me wide eyed.

I stared back equally surprised, the only dragons I'd ever seen here were larger than Twilights house, and they were flying over , they did it once a year I think. "Who Twilight I didn't know you had a pet dragon!" I said walking into the kitchen.

"HAY!" the small creature yelled, "I'm not a pet I am Twilights number one assistant, she hatched me from my egg and we've been together since" he crossed his arms and glared at me mumbling something about being called a pet…do ponies have pets?

Rainbow was laughing at me and spike from the ceiling, she dove down and landed next to Twilights table and took a seat, seemed like she was staying for breakfast too.

"Whoa sorry little dude, I'm Stiles what's your name?" I said kneeling down and hold out my hand.

"Spike" he said taking my hand uncertainly, his hand was small and cold, not rough exactly but scaly for sure, "Nice to meet you"

I stood back up and saw that Twilight had already put together a rather large fruit salad, I would have pulled out some of my jerky to go with it but I don't think she'd like me eating meat in front of her, "Wow Twi that looks good!" I said sitting down in a chair, it was a little low but not uncomfortable.

"It's just a salad Stiles" She said blushing at my compliment.

"Yeah but when all you've had for the last six years is weeds and little bit of wild veggies it sure makes even the simplest things amazing, not dissing your salad of course just saying it's a nice change ya know?" I said heaving a huge helping onto my plate.

"Hay save some for us ya big lug" Rainbow said grabbing the bowl from me.

Spike had sat down next to Twilight eyeing me closely, "What are you?" it was a simple enough question so I answered him.

As I was explaining me and my world Twilight and Rainbow Dash would interrupt to ask another question and another and another…. The salad being long gone and me and Dash; who had stopped with her questions after I told her about race cars, being board out of my wits I had just about told Twilight the history of my race. She had written it all down as I spoke never losing interest and wanting to hear every last detail.

When it came to the wars though they all seemed to pale and look ill, she said there had been no wars for almost one thousand years and that the last great war took such a toll on the land that there were still places that reeked of heavy magic and blood. These places were well avoided even by the sternest of soldiers. Me being curious was obviously going to have a look see myself.

She seemed horrified that a race could fight and kill one another with such brutality. To me it was nothing new, in the city I lived in before coming here there was a new murder by the minute, sometimes they'd find a body behind my apartment. It was quite common….I lived in a bad part of town as you can guess. At the mention of blatant murder though she seemed to have had enough, she looked like she was going to be ill.

I had to stoop to do it but I helped clean up our breakfast mess, it was nearing noon and Twilight wanted to show me around and treat me to a….hayburger….how…..appetizing. I was all for it I was just worried that I'd scare everyone off but Twilight said to trust her and let her introduce me. She admitted I was scary looking but once she talked to me she wasn't scared anymore. I didn't know whether to take offense or not so I just assumed it was a compliment.

Rainbow took off as me and Twilight headed out the door saying something about checking in on a weather pegasi named Ditzy Doo, she said most just called her Derpy though. She was the Mail Mare as well it seemed. I'd like to meet someone nick named Derpy, she sounds interesting.

So my first big day in the town…not getting my hopes up just yet.

**Well I hope to start to see some reviews soon, I'd like to hear from ya'll. Any way on to the next chapter!**


	6. Chapter 6

**This story is going to go through several arcs, I'm gonna be combining some actual episodes with my story line but I will also be adding some new stuff, so I hope you enjoy and please any tips on keeping the characters sound please share!**

**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns all rights to MLP: FIM**

Chapter six: A Howling Good Day on the Town

I was nervous as we left the library, I mean after my mix up with Applejack I wasn't sure I was ready for meeting other ponies. All Twilight said was to just not touch anypony like that and I'd do fine, she promised to tell me more when we returned. She didn't mind me setting up home in a spare space in her house.

"I mean come on, you can turn a broom closet into a full scale hotel with your powers!" was her excited yell for having a roomie. Needless to say I was embarrassedly pleased at the compliment.

The indigenous inhabitants of Ponyville seemed to have two reactions upon seeing me. A dead stop and gaping mouth or a slight eek and running for their lives…if I wasn't so nice I'd be laughing my ass off. I still shared a chuckle here or there.

Seeing me walking with Twilight who was a pillar of the community I assume gave many a pause but they still seemed to shy away from us when we came to them. We stopped in on Sugar Cube Corner first, where Pinkie Pie worked for a Mrs. and Mr. Cake. Did all pony names coincide with their jobs?

Pinkie was more than delighted to serve us up a couple of fresh cupcakes on the house. They were delicious! For a species without hands they sure could make some sweets!

After making acquaintances with the Cakes who for their part were delighted that such a strange creature as myself loved their baking, we left with an invite to come back anytime. I think I might like this place after all.

As we were walking around I smiled at everypony careful not to show my teeth, I did have rather large eye-teeth signifying my meat eating habits. Everypony smiled and waved once I opened my face to show I was genuinely happy to be here. I was so nervous but they didn't seem to bat an eye at me other than a few gawking looks but hay I was the new guy in town and it was okay right?

We stopped in on Apple Acres so I could see the work Applejack did. I loved her property, it was an absolutely beautiful country filled with apple trees. We found her in the fields "bucking apples" which seemed to be running up to the tree and smashing it with her back hooves so that the apples would fall. Most landed in buckets she had placed under the trees but a small filly was picking up the ones that missed.

Unlike Applejack this small pony didn't have a cutie mark; did they just appear one day? I'd ask Twilight tonight sometime.

"Hay Applejack!" I hailed waving my arm, both mares looked my way, Applejack waved back whiled the little one hid behind her peeking out at me with wide frightened eyes. I wiggled my fingers at her which made her duck back behind Applejack.

Twilight swatted me lightly with her tail. I smiled as Applejack pushed the small filly forward, "Now Applebloom this here is a friend of mine, he might be scary but he is a kind soul, and now introduce yerself proper like"

"H-hi I-I'm Apple- Applebloom, what's y-yer name?" She said crouched low and looking up at me without tipping her head up.

"Hi Applebloom, I'm Stiles, nice to meet you" I said kneeling down, she was still a foot shorter than me; I just wanted to scoop her up and hug her. I restrained myself if just barely.

She smiled a bit and stood straighter, "If ya don't mind mah asking mister, what are ya?"

"Applebloom, you know it's not polite to ask something like that" Applejack scolded lightly

"Aw big sis I was just curious, I mean, I've never seen nopony like him before!" Applebloom said her small voice matching her completely.

"It's alright Applejack it's an honest question" Looking back at Applebloom I smiled, "Well ya see I'm not from here, I'm called a Human, the first and probably last to ever come here"

"You mean yer all alone?" she asked innocently.

I could feel the cold in my chest, yes I was all alone. "Nah I'm not alone, I have Twilight and her friends, and I'd like to say I have you too" I said extending my fist, "If ya'll have me 'course"

Her hoof connected with mine and I was surprised to find it almost as big as my loose fist, which made me realize for the first time just how big their hooves were, "Why I'd be happy to call ya my friend, you're too weird not to want to get to know!" with that she started picking the apples up again.

I love kids; they have no problem most times with the strange and new. Absolutely adorable, Applebloom was running around throwing apples in the buckets. I shook my head as Applejack showed me around and explained how her family was the first to settle Ponyville; I thought that was just the coolest thing I'd heard that day.

She convinced me to give bucking a try, and I did, and I don't think I'll be doing it again. It's not that I didn't knock the apples down…no it was more like I knocked the tree down with them. Oops. I was able to stand it back up and rebury the roots but Applejack was sure the tree wouldn't make it.

I felt so horrible, I promised to make up for it through labor, not bucking of course but hard work around the farm. Heavy lifting for when her brother, who I had met in the barn on my tour, was out at the market.

She accepted my offer but said only one day of hard work would do, after that she said if I liked the work I was welcome to work any day she or I needed it. I was more than happy to accept that offer, I'd been wondering how I was going to pay for anything.

After that disaster we made our way to a local eatery that had the "Best Hayburger this side of Canterlot" yum….

We had an outside table and after convincing the waiter that I was safe to approach we had our orders, I decided against better judgment and because Twilight did this doe eye thing that nearly broke me I got a Hayburger. I was laughing at the high strung waiter who apparently was also the proprietor, he was ushering his guests around and telling them that I wasn't a threat. I had to admire him because he not only went as far as to introduce me to a few of his regulars but kept up with everypony and had a nice conversation with us when I asked how he had started this fast food restaurant.

We weren't there for five minutes before we had our orders, I picked up the hayburger and it was just that, a pile of hay between two sesame seed buns. The fries looked delicious, cooked either in the oven or in veggie oil. I lifted the thing to my mouth and looked up to see Twilight watching eagerly, I took a big bite and nearly choked. It was hay, dried grass on a bun, but I forced it down with plenty of brown pop, I finished the burger quickly afraid to lose my nerve.

Twilight seemed to truly enjoy the oddity and I couldn't help but smile at the impossible situation. Here was a talking unicorn sitting at a table with a hayburger in her hooves smiling like she won the lottery. It was turning out to be a good day. Until I heard a small voice pipe up as another guest came into the courtyard.

"EW Daddy what's that thing?" said a small obnoxious voice, "Make it leave daddy"

I turned to see a small filly hanging onto a refined looking pony in an overcoat, he had moneybags as his cutie mark and the little one had a tiara. I decided to ignore them and finished off my fries, as I was taking a sip from my soda waiting for twilight to finish her fries the pony came over to our table.

"Excuse me miss could you take your…pet and leave?" he said in a snobbish voice

From my sitting position I slightly below his eye level, it was a small chair not made for a human so I looked gangly and awkward. I stood up to my fullest and I watched in pleasure as his eyes widened when I finished standing and stood a good two feet over him.

"My good sir that is not a nice thing to say about somebody you don't know" I said bending over so I was looking down on him making him cringe down.

He backed away apologizing before leaving the restaurant with his daughter in tow complaining about not getting a foal meal. I cracked my neck slowly before lowering myself back down and continuing to sip on my soda.

Everyone had stopped and watched our little scene, I don't think any of them realized I was so big till then, I smiled at them, "Sorry folks, I didn't mean to cause a stir I'll leave if ya'll want" I didn't want to upset nopony.

"Nah we don't like ol' Moneybags anyway, he's a real douche sometimes" a pony piped up…I felt like I'd lost my breath; guess our people have more in common after all. Our waiter came out and offered me a free meal for the trouble but I politely refused it was not his fault that some ponies can't be civil.

Other than that little hic-up we continued on, Twilight decided to show me where Fluttershy lived so we headed out of the town. I could see her cottage when I heard her scream for help, then I heard the howling, I knew what that was instantly.

"Timber Wolves" I whispered before dashing off leaving Twilight to rush after me in a cloud of dust.

God I hope this wasn't a normal thing….


	7. Chapter 7

**Hello again, sorry for making ya'll wait for these chapters it's been a rough week for me.**

**Disclaimer: Hasbro retains all rights and licenses to the MLP: FIM show and characters.**

Chapter Seven: A very Toothy Grin

I rounded Fluttershys house in time to see a wolf lunge for her, with a quick leap I scooped her up and landed about a dozen feet from the wolf. She was shivering uncontrollably before passing out in my arms, she wasn't hurt as far as I could tell but she did have some blood on her hooves. Looking around I saw that there were a couple of chickens lying still in the grass.

I ran into my fair share of Timber Wolves in the forest while training, the first time didn't end well with me because I didn't know they could pull themselves back together after being split apart. I earned a good sized scar across my shoulder for that little mistake. What was the old proverb….Cut off a wolfs head and it still has the power to bite, no shit Sherlock.

I gently placed Fluttershy onto the ground and turned to the wolves, there were about twelve scattered around the clearing between the cottage and the forest. A decent sized hunting party, most Timber Wolves only travel in packs of six to eight for a small raid like this one. A couple were coming out of the chicken coop caring limp birds in their mouths, they quickly dropped them and joined the others once they saw me.

Twilight rounded the cottage just as the first one leapt at me, I dodged under it and punched it in the stomach while releasing a small pressurized ball of air with my magic. The combo sent the creature reeling backwards into two of its companions. Taking a typical fighting stance I slowly move toward the creatures, the three getting up moved out of my way wearily watching me.

I pivoted in a circle making sure of everyone's positions before settling back facing the forest, I closed my eyes feeling and seeing everything with my aura. Twelve green auras appeared in my mind followed by lavender and yellow auras next to one another, my guess was Twilight was trying to revive Fluttershy because Fluttershys aura was slowly brightening.

A sudden motion from my left sharpened my focus as three wolves charged me, gathering a simple fire charm I lashed out with several quick jabs igniting them as they jumped at me. I caught one in the face, one in the shoulder and one in the chest; I opened my eyes as I felt the rest converge on me as the first three writhed on the ground slowly burning to ash.

I didn't feel any expression on my face, I was so focused on dodging weaving and striking I barely breathed. Two came at me high, three from the left, three from behind and two from below, I kicked one squarely in the face sending it straight up to knock another off course; it's teeth still snapped with in an inch of my face. I did a quick spin and unleashed a ring of fire hot enough to instantly incinerate the six closest to me.

One of the remaining managed to latch onto my left arm, it's teeth not able to pierce my leather bracer I didn't think nothing of it. I grabbed it around its neck and crushed. It splintered into pieces, as the last two came at me from both sides, seemed like watching nine of them die wasn't enough to deter them from trying to kill me. I grabbed them both around the neck and lifted them, struggling, into the air, with a quick burst of magic I turned them into ash. The one I had splintered was trying to pull itself back together but I quickly set it aflame, it stopped moving shortly after.

Now, why hadn't I used my sword? One they can piece themselves back together like I said and two you know how quickly a blade dulls when hitting wood with it? It's not good at all. I turned back to Twilight and Fluttershy; they were both watching me with weary expressions.

"Hay Fluttershy are you ok?" I said jogging up to her; I stopped when she flinched away, "Fluttershy?"

"D-did you have to kill them Stiles?" came her soft voice, she wasn't meeting my eyes, "They were only doing what they are born to do"

I hated people like this, yes it is their nature, but that does mean they can kill people or ponies if you prefer. Fluttershy would be dead and eaten if I hadn't stopped them, "I made my choice Fluttershy" I said trying to not sound upset, "You or them, I choose you" I turned around and picked up the three dead chickens before walking towards the woods.

I heard Twilight call me so I turned around to see them following me, "Stop, don't follow me ok?" I said gently, "I'm just going to get rid of these and take a walk" I looked at Fluttershy, "I need to cool down, as much as it seemed like I enjoyed that I hate killing, it leaves a cold pit in my stomach" She looked away blushing shamefully

I continued across the small prairie and into the thick woods, I followed a twisting pathway I mistook for a game trail only to find myself at a small hut after a minute or two. Soft pale smoke was rising out of the center and a soft light from the window. I went up and peeked in to see a small zebra stirring a giant caldron. How odd.

"Many creatures in this forest can kill….and I believe one is looking at me from my windowsill" her voice was deep but feminine; very soothing. She turned quickly to look at me but I'd already ducked down.

I shook my head and continued past the hut not in the mood for more ponies, even if they're zebras with peculiar speech patterns. I went off the beaten path and found a small clearing in this dense forest, a canopy of trees provided cool shade and a small stream ran from a hidden opening along some rocks right on downhill.

I stopped and started gathering wood; I gathered what dead wood I needed for a small cook fire and then cut some saplings to make a spit. Could I have made a fully stocked kitchen in a blink, yes I could. But magic fails to impart substance to creation, you can tell the difference when something is made by hand or magic, kinda like microwave VS baked.

I set about the grueling and almost savage act of cleaning the dead chickens, I hadn't had real chicken in ages and I had a feeling eating them in front of Fluttershy or any pony on that matter would be another reason to be distrusted. Especially how Fluttershy and Twilight had reacted about me killing those dangerous wolves.

I stuck the birds on the spit and sat down to let them slowly roast, taking up a few thin sprigs and the flight feathers from the chickens I started fletching some arrows. It was something to do with my hands, taking a small knife and making three grooves, two on opposite sides and one in between. I reached into the small satchel attached to my belt and pulled a length of sinew out, soaked it in the small stream and started wrapping the fletching on. Sinew, when used wet stretches like elastic, but as it dries it constricts like a boa, gluing itself together it makes a bond stronger than any glue.

I had fletched about ten arrows, slowly turning the roasting birds after each one, when I noticed a… an absence in the world. I looked up to see Void standing a few feet away eyeing me grinning. He looked at the arrows and shuffled over sitting down, he took a couple of stones from the small stream side and started knapping them, taking a larger stronger rock he slowly broke down and sharpened the smaller ones into stone arrow heads.

We sat in quiet company working on the arrows, I ran out of feathers and handed him the last arrow of twenty. He put the final arrow head on and set it in place with a bit of sinew before taking a deep breath and removing the spit from the fire. During my training I found out that Void was rather fond of meat, he loved poultry the most though.

He slid a cooked chicken off and started picking at it, nibbling on little bits, "So Stiles, that was some fancy work with those wolves, very nice flame technique, how did you come up with that air pressure strike, it was cunning" he said ripping a leg of before gnawing on it.

I took up my own bird and bit into a juicy thigh, "Well I needed to have them surround me so I could get them in the right range for the fire, so I had to clear a path and I thought 'Hey, why not clear a path with a puff of air' so that's what I did, not so cunning just lazy really" I said taking another bite, "Didn't feel like fighting my way to their center"

Void chuckled and dropped the stripped leg before taking a whole breast off and shredding it into pieces, he liked to tear his food apart then eat it. He claimed it was good for digestion, I just think he like tearing things up. To each his own right?

We finished our birds and Void took the last one and in a surprising show of friendship split it in two, he usually took more for himself when I cooked. He handed me half smiling, I smiled back and took it from him. Something was going on, my guard went up as soon as his hand left the chicken half, good thing too otherwise I'd have lost my head….literally.

With blurring speed he whipped his usual serrated saber from his robes and swung at me, not in a nice 'Hey let's have a friendly duel' way but more of a 'I hope this doesn't kill you' way. Typical, whenever he sees me fight he wants to test me afterward, his blood boils and he just wants to wail on something. At least that's what he told me, he's too much like Nordic Vikings from my world.

Tossing the chicken down on a clean rock I rolled away and spun coming up from the ground unsheathing my sword as well. I swung the sword overhead grabbing the hilt with both hands before separating them so they fell to my sides. I had used a duplicate spell on my sword and now held two blades, one in each hand.

Void's ever present grin widened, I only dual wielded when I meant business, and he knew that. A vacant aura surrounded the arrows we had just made, and with a flick of his sword they shot at me like bullets. With a spinning motion I deflected them away and took hold of them with my own aura and sent them at him.

He melted into shadow before they struck; they all shattered on the stones behind him, and before the pieces fell he was on me. With a joyous shout we both clashed together, steel flying, sparks raining down we met time and time again, our blades only centimeters away from vital hits. Blades locked we stared at each other trying to overpower the other.

This was the cool down I needed, and I think Void knew it too. As much as he wouldn't admit it and probably hit me for saying it, he considered me his friend. Believe that? Me a friend of Darkness incarnate…..wonderful. With a very toothy grin void dislodged his sword and blasted me away with a ball of darkness.

He summoned several large shadow creatures with a Fake Life curse, my armor and shirt shredded as I let my grey wings unfurl to their max spanning a good twenty feet. Something out of move huh? With a laugh his suit vanished and was replaced with light armor and his own set of black wings erupted from his back.

With two powerful strokes we were once again locked in battle, small spheres of light surrounded me as I cast my own Fake Life curse, not on the shadows but the streaming light that pierced the canopy around us. With a surprised laugh Void and I shot up spinning like a pair of eagles in a death lock.

The pain of seeing distrust from Fluttershy and Twilight instead of gratefulness was dulling as Void and I fought. I took great zeal as I watched our familiars fight out a small battle below us, the clash and cry of a good fight lifting my spirit. I was grinning as much as Void was.

Again I wondered if I truly was the right person to save this world that was so devoted to peace, they wouldn't defend themselves even when they were an inch away from death? Killing is bad, protecting is good, but when you must kill to protect, good and bad disappear and you're left with a choice.

Is something that is worth protecting worth killing for?


	8. Chapter 8

**Well I hope ya'll are still with me, eight chapters in and not much has really happened, but don't you worry it'll get better ;)**

**Remember, this is a nonprofit Fan Creation, all MLP FIM products belong to Hasbro**

Chapter Eight: What is Stiles?

Twilight POV:

I watched as the human Stiles walked away, he moved like the lethal wolves he killed, with silent power. His mastery of magic was….complete; he casted spells in mid battle without so much as a bead of sweat. True he killed them, was it necessary…I believe my life might make me biased about that, in his world it was kill or be killed most days. Fluttershy shouldn't have said what she did; I could see the hurt in his eyes, which surprised me.

During his fight his face was passive, I saw now fear, anger, regret, or sadness, it was cold, his eyes, usually a liquid teal were sapphires glinting in fire light. He was….scary. When he approached us his eyes were still that sapphire color, but when he saw Fluttershy jerk away they became an azure before lessening to a dark teal.

"I made my choice Fluttershy, you or them, I chose you" He spun on his heels and collected the dead chickens before crossing the clearing towards the forest.

I stood, with Fluttershy beside me we started after him, "Stiles wait!" I called

He turned to us, "Stop, please don't follow me" he turned his sad gaze on Fluttershy, "I'm just getting rid of these and taking a walk, I just need to cool down. As much as it seemed like I enjoyed that I hate killing, it leaves a cold pit in my stomach"

He turned away again and walked off, as he vanished into the thicket I turned to Fluttershy who was blushing and weeping silently, "Fluttershy, he was protecting you, you should have thanked him, you hurt his feelings"

"But he killed those poor wolves!" she said stamping her hoof.

"Fluttershy are you blind!?" I nearly yelled, "HE SAVED YOUR LIFE AND YOU QUESTION HIM!?" I started to walk towards the woods, "If I were him I'd have done the same thing" My heart turned cold, it was the truth, I'd k…k…kill for my friends, but it didn't feel too good to admit it. I was not a cold killer, but I would not stand by and watch a friend die.

"He could have scared them off, he didn't need to kill them" She persisted sobbing; she was too kind for this or any world. I could see that hurting Stiles hurt her and I could see knowing that creatures died for her sake hurt her even more; I could see the conflict within her.

"I would have tried to, and I'm sure he'd have too but you have to understand, you can't think of everything when under stress like that, he acted out the best plan he could come up with at the time" I trotted back to her and nuzzled her cheek, "He did it for you, someone he only met last night, he wanted to protect you at all costs"

She started sobbing before she galloped back to her house, with a slam her door shut, she was too kind. I shook my head and followed after him, I know he said he wanted to be alone but I felt he needed someone to talk to.

I followed as close as I dared; he approached a strange hut and suddenly ducked down, with an uncalled for 'eep,' I ducked into some bushes, when I looked up Stiles was making his way off the path. I followed slowly before he entered a clearing with a small stream; I was going to approach him when he started gathering wood.

I had a cold feeling so I hunkered down to watch, I wanted a chance to study him without his knowing, and this was my chance. I watched him build a small fire and after setting up what looked like a couple of y-shaped sticks on either end, measured a long green sapling and laid it over the fire. I felt the blood drain from my face as I saw him start to pluck the feathers from the chickens, I thought I was going to be sick as he gutted and….and…..cleaned them before sticking them on the stick over the fire.

Oh Celestia…he….he was a carnivore…..but…but he ate my salad so heartily I was sure he was a herbivore, but now I can see his eye teeth gleam chewed on his lips. He was scary before but now…he's terrifying. Everything that was me screamed to run away, to go and hide and pretend I was never here, but I forced the fear away, I'd stay and watch, just so I could know for sure, was he truly our friend?

While the chickens were cooking he sat down and started carving into some sticks, I realized he was making arrows when he started to put feathers on one end.

He pulled some kind of string from his pouch, it was yellow and seemed to be only a single strand…it couldn't be…but….it was SINEW! Sinew was harvested only from certain animals like deer and rabbits; it was used long ago when Equestria was still in the dark ages, before the Battle of the two Sisters. He started wrapping the feathers with the sinew, after he'd finish one he'd turn the chickens, a sudden draft sent the smell of cooking meat right into my nose, I think I'm going to be sick….

A few minutes later out of nowhere the shadows converged on one spot then suddenly there was another human! He said he was the only one….has he been lying all along?! Without a word this second human walked over and sat beside Stiles. He started forming arrow heads from stone, for a while Stiles would put the feathers on then this other human would put on the heads.

When the last arrow was set down the stranger lifted the chickens from the fire and slid one off, with a greasy sounding tear he pulled off a piece of…m..meat and started nibbling on it like a rabbit…oh Celestia I'm gonna throw up!

They started talking but I was too far away to hear them, the stranger had asked a question and while he was replying Stiles pulled a l….leg of and started consuming the meat. They then sat silent again, eating the chickens, the stranger pulling the meat into shreds before eating it…I could see the grease on his fingers as he licked them clean, throwing the barren carcass of the chicken into the fire. I watched as he ripped the last in half….I gagged as bile filled my throat, then Stiles was gone…..

Where he was sitting was a serrated blade held by the stranger, Stiles was just getting up from a roll bringing his own sword out, with an overhead whip he was suddenly holding two swords. With a flick of his sword the stranger sent the arrows they had just made toward stiles, without batting an eye he deflected them and shot them back at the stranger.

The stranger melted into shadow before leaping at Stiles, with a cry both of them vanished from my view, I could hear the clashing of metal, see the sparks erupting out of thin air but I could not see Stiles or the Stranger. How could they move so fast?!

Suddenly they were still, their swords locked together staring at each other, I could see the physical strain Stiles was exerting, the stranger seemed to be matching him without much effort. With a burst of what looked like pure darkness the stranger sent Stiles flying back, he caught his feet easily and stood poised for another round.

The strangers' eyes began to glow green, a purple smoke seeping from the corners, the shadows deepened and a dozen large two legged creatures with huge claws sprang up. Almost instantly Stiles clothes were ripped away as two enormous wings erupted from his back, nearly twice as long as Stiles was tall, and a dusky grey. My mind was reeling…the magic that was surrounding him was so thick and concentrated that his body was claimed by an eerie green glow.

Stiles' eyes…..his eyes started glowing the same menacing color as the strangers, instead of shadows the light seemed to brighten and suddenly there were beings made of light, the same as the shadows. It was a battle, light and dark, Stiles and his creatures facing this stranger and his creatures. I felt more than heard their wings beat, it was a deep thrumming I could feel in my chest, two simultaneous beats and they were locked again.

Their creatures giving shrieks of nightmares clashed around them, I lost sight of Stiles as the creatures started tearing at each other. My blood was ice as two creatures got so close I could have touched them, I watched as the one of light ripped an arm off of the shadow creature, tearing the rest to bits. I whimpered and with a quickness I couldn't follow it was right in front of my face staring at me with no eyes.

With what could have been a huff it rejoined the fight without as much as another glance at me…. I nearly fainted from the pure terror I felt as it stared at me. I was shaken out of my daze as I saw Stiles and the stranger leap into the air, climbing higher and higher spinning around and around still locked in battle.

I could see the savage grin on the stranger, and when they rotated I saw the same grin adorning Stiles. Right then I knew without a doubt, lies or truth, if he wanted to, Stiles could end us. With a blink he rendered Celestia, the most powerful being I know powerless, and now, summoning an army out of thin air more savage than any dragon, more relentless than any diamond dog. I quaked in absolute terror as I watched these two armies fight.

The clashing of steel on steel rang out around me, sparks showered down like twinkling stars, the dark creatures were waning, the creatures of light overpowering them quickly now. With a dying cry the last shadow creature melted back into a normal shadow, as the creature dissipated so did creatures of light, slowing evaporating into small particles of light. It was beautiful, frozen in fear I was surprised I could see something so beautiful after such savagery.

With a sudden explosion the ground erupted in a plume of dust, the fire was blown out, sparks swirling in the air, as the dust settled I saw Stiles and the stranger locked once again by the blades. They seemed to be evenly matched but as I stared I saw who actually was winning. And it wasn't Stiles.

The stranger was covered in cuts and the beginnings of bruises, but stiles…at some point he lost one of his swords and his left arm was hanging useless to his side. And yet he was still standing, one wing seemed to bend in the wrong way, patches of feathers missing, a gash across his torso and down his face over his right eye. He was still standing, alone and beaten, against this…..human.

"What are you Stiles!" the stranger asked suddenly, his voice was oily, smooth as silk, the voice of a practiced liar.

"I AM STILES!" Stiles yelled

With a sudden dislodging and strike to the head with the flat of his blade the stranger sent stiles to his knees. Stiles whipped up his sword to catch a downward slash from the stranger grimacing as he forced his wounded arm up to help stabilize the sword.

"NOT WHO YOU ARE!" the stranger yelled bearing down on stiles, "WHAT ARE YOU, WHAT DID YOU PROMISE US STILES, WHAT DID YOU SWEAR TO DO?"

"TO SAVE THIS WORLD OR DIE TRYING!" Stiles' body glowed suddenly with a harsh green tint; it turned suddenly to dark purple, his eyes turned green as purple leaked from the corners of his eyes.

Stiles sprang up and slammed his sword in a one arm swing against the stranger's, shattering both blades, "ANSWER ME, WHAT ARE YOU!?" the stranger yelled grasping Stiles in a way that bound both arms to his sides.

Stiles hung his head, I could see his mouth move but I couldn't hear what he had said, the stranger seemed pleased by his answer as he let him slump to the ground, "Feel better Stiles?" the stranger said, his hands glowing with dark power as he restored Stiles. His wounds healed quickly and with a sickening pop from his wing and arm his wings curled in and disappeared. Stiles groaned as he rotated his arm around stretching it.

"Yeah thanks Void, I needed that" he smiled up at….Void and grasped his offered arm and hoisting himself up, "I know these ponies are fond of life but….it still hurt that they couldn't see what I did _was _necessary, they don't know Timber Wolves like I do"

This was the 'cool down' stiles needed? What kind of savage monster enjoys this….this …Carnage? And what did he mean about the Timber Wolves, was there something no other biologist knew about?

What are you Stiles?

"I know stiles believe me I know, watching them for the last few millennia has been quite a bore, but don't let them fool you, for those of us who can remember they were quite savage themselves in their earlier days" Void said with a smirk.

How could he know that? What is he? Where did he come from? All these thoughts passed through my head when stiles jerked around and saw me in the bushes, his mouth opened with dismay before turning back to Void.

"Did you know she was there this whole time?!" he asked outraged.

"You're slipping Stiles, of course I did, you let your emotions cloud too much of your vision not to notice Twilight Sparkle had followed you from the get go" Void grinned and winked at me before melting into shadow and vanishing.

"You son of a bitch!" Stiles said stomping at the retreating shadows, his shoulders slumped as he turned back to me, his eyes were sorrowful, shamed that he had been caught, "Twilight?"

I flinched slightly but Stiles saw it, he cast his gaze to the ground before sitting cross legged with his back to me. He started stoking the fire back to life mumbling to himself, slowly the shreds of his shirt and armor started floating toward him slowly repairing them. He donned his shirt and started lacing up his armor, he hadn't looked at me in twenty minutes, and I slowly got up.

The instinct to run as far and as fast as I could was howling through my mind, but I had to know, did Stiles lie about being the only human here and was he truly here to save us all? I stepped toward him and I saw his shoulders tense, he seemed to be waiting for a blow that he knew was coming but didn't intend to stop. I hung my head slightly, he had done nothing to me or my friends, for the sake of Celestia he saved Fluttershys life, and I'm treating him like some rabid animal, I was just so scared. And there was so much I didn't know, it was all just too much at once.

I forced my trembling frame toward him, I sat beside him and did the only thing my kind knew what to do, I leaned into his side. To us it was meant as forgiveness, understanding, and companion ship, I didn't know what it meant to Stiles but he leaned back before giving of a sobbing laugh.

"Twilight, I'm sorry you had to see that" Stiles said shaking; he was trebling like a new born foal.

"Stiles…do you…are you…" Celestia why was it so hard to ask? "Are you going to hurt us?" I asked, rushing it out, I looked at him as he jerked away staring at me horrified; I blushed in shame, of course not.

"NO no no never I'd never hurt you Twilight, or anyone else for that matter" He looked down at his open hands, "I only kill to protect, I only protect what is worth killing for, my friends, family, my freedom"

His eyes, though I'm sure he was a good liar, his eyes didn't seem to be able to hide his intentions, he wouldn't hurt us, I believe that, was he a carnivore, yes, was he more dangerous than any creature I know, yes, was he malevolent, no he was not. He was a protector.

He was our protector.

"Stiles I can accept that you eat…m…meat" I said stumbling over the word, "I can trust you to keep us safe, just promise that you'll never lie to me, promise me that and I'll follow you till the end" I said, why I said it I don't know. I just felt that for whatever reason Stiles was here, whatever purpose he was to serve, it was the right one. And he was going to need us, The Elements of Harmony.

The Elements of Friendship.


	9. Chapter 9

**I wanna give a shout out to my very first Follower Nightmare Moon and FireFlight! Thanks so much I was beginning to worry if anyone liked my story at all! Thanks and I promise to keep with the updates. Working around my work schedule and girlfriend time is hard but I promise multiple chapter uploads so thanks again Nightmare Moon and FireFlight!**

**Disclaimer: Hasbro owns MLP: FIM merchandise and rights to characters, this is a nonprofit fanfic.**

**On with the story! Tallyho! **

Chapter nine: Fluttershy….I'm…..

Sitting there, Twilight leaning against me, I didn't know what to do, I wanted to hug her, I wanted to _be_ hugged. Again I didn't know what was ok and what was not so I just leaned back, my little bout with Void to me was nothing but…..

"Twilight I'm sorry you had to see that" I said softly laughing, sobbing I couldn't tell.

I could feel her shaking against me, I was doing it again, inadvertently pushing people away, If I wasn't careful I'd be….

"Stiles" Twilights voice was soft, "Do you…..are you" she stumbled before taking a deep breath, "are you going to hurt us Stiles?" She said quickly.

I felt like I was stung, I jerked away, "No no no no I would never hurt you Twilight, or anyone for that matter" I looked down at my hands, seeing the blood I've spilt over the last few years, "I only kill to protect, I only protect what is worth killing for, my friends, family, my freedom"

I looked at her and she seemed to look deep into my soul, I didn't blink, I didn't move, I could see she was working something out in her head….but what? Will I lose the first pony to ever consider me a friend?

"Hey punk what does that make us, huh?" Earth said, eavesdropping as usual.

"_You need me, I don't necessarily like you, not one of you offered me comfort, except for Void none of you can even physically interact with me, are we friends….I don't know, allies yes, friends….that is debatable"_ I mentally shut them out so I could have just a little peace.

Twilight seemed to come to her conclusion as she took a deep breath, "Stiles I can accept that you eat…m…meat" She said stumbling over the word, I blushed lightly, "I can trust you to keep us safe, just promise me that you'll never lie to me, promise me that and I'll follow you till the end" as she finished I saw a spark behind her eyes, and as if faded I knew I was going to need them, I would need the Elements of Friendship more than they would ever need me.

"I promise" I said softly before touching my head to hers, just below her horn, I used a bit of magic to bind my promise to our souls.

"_Humans walk a razors edge between light and dark, good and evil, sometimes we need guidance when our way is clouded, trust that everything I do is for this world alone"_ I whispered to Twilight through our mental connection, _"Guide me when I am lost Twilight, trust in me as I trust in you"_

Why did I feel a balance shift in the world I'll never know, but what I felt from the core of my soul, my existence was that the promise I just made would seal the fate of this world. What will happen, I won't know till it does, but I felt at peace in this moment. Then I opened my eyes.

My head was still touching Twilights, her eyes were open wide and light blush was covering her snout, I blushed profusely and leaned away laughing. How can one moment be serene and fate changing and the next like I'm trying to have a conversation with the hottest girl at school? Completely confused and awkward.

"I'm not sure what that would mean to you guys but I'm sure it was just as intimate as it would be for us" I said rubbing my neck, I looked away and seeing the damage to this once beautiful clearing.

Trees were ripped to shreds, some up rooted, the stream was dirty, large craters from our fight, I shook my head and waved my hand, a bubble surrounded me and Twilight as time around us seemed to go into reverse. The damages were slowly repaired, like watching a movie in rewind, the fire disappeared and I finally noticed how dark it had gotten, as the last pebble was placed back where it was before I arrived the bubble fell and I was greeted with a bright night full of stars and moon light peeking through the canopy.

I looked back at Twilight only to find her staring with her mouth wide open at the now dark clearing, I laughed as I gently shut her mouth. "You'll catch flies if you aren't careful ya know?"

"How?" She said looking at me.

"I was trained by Time, he taught me simple time reversal spells and Space taught me how to make them only affect the space I wanted to change" I said standing up, as Twilight stood I placed a hand on her head and teleported us back to the library.

All of her friends shrieked as we appeared, I stumbled back as Applejack and Rainbow Dash tackled me, trying to bring me to the floor. I let them hit me, they attached to my arms and hung there trying to pull me down, I looked at Twilight confused. Rarity was standing in front of her horn glowing blue while Fluttershy was behind Rarity but in front of Twilight.

Pinkie Pie was sitting in a chair eating popcorn watching us all with expectant eyes, what the fuck is wrong with that pony?

"Um…guys?" I asked shaking Applejack and Dash off, "What's up?"

"We want you to leave, you…_carnivore!"_ Dash yelled, my face turned cold, I felt shame, but most of all I felt anger.

The fire in the fireplace dimmed and sputtered out as my rage boiled, the moonlight shining in turned dark as I felt my eyes sting, meaning they had turned green with dark magic. My clothes rustled in an absent wind I stalked forward as the five ponies fell back out of my way.

I cornered Fluttershy and put up a thin barrier to keep the others out, I took a deep breath and exhaled, I wouldn't lose control, not this time. I kneeled down on both knees before touching my head to the floor before her. "Fluttershy…..I'm…..sorry"

The fire erupted back into a cozy light as I let go of my anger, the shadows were slightly darker though, Void was watching closely.

"Timber Wolves hunt in packs as I'm sure you know being an animal pony, but what you might not know is that even though there are separate packs they all belong to the same whole. In the deepest part of the forest lies a dead thousand year old tree, so large and cavernous you'd easily mistake it for a cave" I sat up to see her pressed against the wall, breathing hard but also listening.

I sighed as I lowered the wall of magic, "When a hunting party is sent out they are counted, when they come back they are counted, if one or two don't return it's normal" I looked at the floor, "If only one or two return it stirs things up, they then send out double the number that first went" I heard Twilight take a quick breath.

"So that means….if you had run them off then they would have returned in number" Twilight said softly I nodded, "And I would have had to kill even more of them" I finished

"So as you can see Flutters, by killing twelve I saved twenty four, and now that a large pack has been wiped out they will avoid this place for many, many years" I begged her with my eyes to understand I saved the rest of the wolves and her animals by killing that pack.

"I still believe that you didn't have to kill them Stiles" Fluttershy insisted softly.

"Oh believe me, I did" I said not unkindly but sternly, "You see the reason I know this is because I had a run in with them before, about a year into my training" I slowly undid my armor and tossed it on the floor, then un-tucked my shirt and discarded it, I heard them all gasp loudly at my back, I turned for Fluttershy and saw the pity in the eyes of the others, she squeaked in shock.

From my right shoulder to my left hip was a scar, from what I could see and tell it was about three inches wide and almost a quarter of an inch thick, "I made the mistake of scaring them off, they returned, I scared them off and they returned, each time doubling in number, finally I was facing nearly fifty" I laughed as the snarls and screams came flooding back, Twilight seemed to wince like she could hear them too.

A soft touch made me shiver, I looked back as Fluttershy looked at my scar closely, feeling the raised flesh, "How did you survive this bad of a wound?" she asked softly.

"….I don't remember, I felt a searing pain, saw blackness and when I woke up there were piles of ash around me" I whispered, I had never felt so much terror as I did waking up to charred bodies surrounding me, "I dressed the wound best I could, applied a salve made from a couple of plants and animal fat that fought the inset of infection"

They seemed to wince at the mention of animal fat, "You all have to come to terms that I am a good guy, I may eat meat, but that does not make me a bad guy, my species needs the protein meat supplies, any substitute would result in the loss of certain vitamins found in meat, thus throwing my body out of whack" They seemed to think about that, "It's in my nature, I cause no unnecessary pain to my quarry, I can't stand to cause suffering, but I will not put my strength and thus this world at jeopardy to appease your views"

I looked at twilight and smiled weakly, "He's right guys" they looked at her with a mixture of shock and shame, "You accept that it is the nature of Timberwolves to eat meat, why not Stiles too?" she shook her head and came to stand by me, she leaned into me like she had at the clearing, "I have…look….you might not agree with what he does, but I trust him completely, if he decides it is necessary, then I accept that k…..k…killing our opponent is an option"

They all looked at the floor clearly not happy with any of it but I could see they were trying to understand but I just had to wonder…."Hey" I said gaining their attention, "How did you know I ate meat anyway?"

Fluttershy blushed deeply before speaking, "I…f…followed…Twilight" she closed her eyes and shivered, "I…sa..saw you c…cook those….ch….chickens…..but I….r…ran away soon a…after" she seemed to heave slightly, "I gathered…the gir..girls and rushed back….but…..but I couldn't find you….a…again"

"Void was to blame for that I suppose, he's good at keeping ponies away" I said smiling as the shadows danced with joy, I don't believe anyone noticed but Pinkie who was surprisingly quiet through the whole spiel.

She started giggling as the shadows writhed, they lightened as Void left and finally stopped, Pinkie popped up and bounced over to me, she hugged be rather tight before smiling, "Silly I don't mind that you eat meat" she said bouncing around me, "When Gummy gets older he'll need meat to survive too so I don't see a problem with it, it's who you are and nobody has the right to ask you to change" her eyes seem to focus onto Fluttershy for a moment before she bounced towards the door, "Your party is long overdue Stiles so I'm thinking you should stop by Sugar Cube Corner tomorrow for a proper welcome to Ponyville!"

"That would be nice Pinkie" I said smiling, a good party might be good for me, music, dancing, free food.

"Okie Dokie Loki!" she said leaving.

The others mumbled good nights and apologies to me as they shuffled out the door, Dash hovered in front of me with an indignant look on her face, "Just know that if you ever hurt any of my friends I'll….I'll…"

"You'll what Dashie?" I said looking her in the eyes, "You'll kill me?"

"….Yeah….Yeah I would" She whispered surprised at herself.

"Now you understand why I do what I do" I pulled her into a small hug, since Pinkie hugged me I deemed it ok, "To protect what is important" I tossed her back into the air and she zoomed out the door.

I sighed as the door closed behind Rarity and looked at Twilight who was sighing as well, I smiled and headed for the kitchen, "Well that was….fun?" I said as I started rummaging through the cupboards.

I found flour and sugar, vanilla, eggs….guess they're not vegan, milk….awkward. I started making breakfast for dinner, I loved breakfast for dinner, with no bacon and sausage it would be a loss nearly unbearable. After a couple of stacks and some scrambled eggs I set a couple of plates down as Twilight came around the corner.

"It seems Spike ate early and went to bed, he's snoozing away right now" She smiled and seemed to laugh.

"I take it you two have been together long?" I asked as we sat down and started eating.

"I hatched him actually, it was the final test that got me accepted at Celestias personal student" she said around a mouth full of pancakes.

"Really?" I said, that was so cool, wow…hatching a baby dragon, must've been neat to see, "Cool, are there other dragons around?"

"Sadly no, Spike is the only dragon I believe that resides permanently in Equestria" she said her ears drooping as if she'd never thought about it, guess I wasn't the only one alone here, how sad.

"That's too bad but I guess it can't be helped" I said taking a big bite of eggs, "So you promised to teach me Equestrian edict" She blushed lightly, "Is there a problem?"

"No it's just….we are very physical creatures and to make sure you understand will be very…..involved" as she finished her sentence she turned brilliant red, I to felt the heat seep into my cheeks.

"If….if it's too uncomfortable for you Twilight I'm sure I can learn a different way…" I looked down at my half eaten pancakes not really hungry with the butterflies in my stomach.

"No…it's just…I don't have experience with….stallions and I wouldn't want to send the wrong signals" she said not looking away from her plate, her mane hid her face but the blush was reaching down her neck now.

I laughed and she seemed to sink lower towards her plate, I reached over and bopped her head giving her a snout full of syrup from the pancakes, she jerked back sputtering and sneezing, "Don't worry about it, remember I trust you, I know you won't mean anything by it, anyway if something is too uncomfortable I'm sure you have some books on the matter" I finish off my pancakes as Twilight wipes her nose still blushing.

"Yeah OK" she said before straightening in her chair, "Well I guess it's fine then, soon as we clean up these dishes I'll teach you our ways….it's surprising that your mentors never bothered to mention any of this to you….why?" Twilight asked clearing the plates.

I started drying as Twilight washed them, felt good with something to do with my hands, "Well I guess because they were so focused on my training and them never being physically there they didn't think it was important" I sighed, "My adoptive father was a military man, he'd seen the whole world and he said the most important thing to learn when going to a strange land was the culture, not the language or religion specifically, but what things mean to them as a whole, no misunderstandings and no accidents"

"Sounds like a wise man your father" Twilight said grabbing a pan and scrubbing it, I started to put the dishes away as she put the pan in the drying rack, "Ok so let's get comfortable and I'll begin" she was blushing again which made me nervous and blush also.

I couldn't help but feel….conflicted, I wanted to learn their culture, but I don't know if I wanted to risk awkwardness with Twilight, from the way she was acting it might prove to be a….intimate experience.

Why me?


	10. Chapter 10

**Hasbro owns all rights to MLP FIM**

Chapter Ten: Awk…ward

I sat down on the couch in front of the fireplace and jerked when instead of sitting down in the chair in front of me Twilight plopped down right beside me, her fore hooves brushing my side, "Well hello to you too Ms. Sparkle" I said trying to make light of things even though I was blushing.

She laughed and placed her hooves in my lap, "I told you, we are physical creatures, on a daily basis we bump into or touch each other almost constantly, we love to feel companionship" she started fidgeting while she was looking at my hands, which were raised since I didn't know where to put them, she was wiggling her lower body like a serpent, it was cute.

"I'm sorry but Stiles what do you call your…your….hooves?" Twilight asked blushing furiously, I started laughing so hard I lost my breath, she was blushing all the more, "It's not funny, are they talons, no they don't seem sharp….claws…again no long nails….what are they?"

"H-hands" I wheeze out before taking a deep breath, "They are called hands and these…" I said wriggling my fingers in front of her wide eyes, "are fingers" I smile as I see her take mental notes.

"Wow….ok so take your h-hand and place it on top of my head and stroke down till I say stop ok?" She said closing her eyes and blushing.

I comply trying to ignore my own burning ears, her mane was soft and silky with no knots or tangles hanging to one side of her long neck, when I reached her shoulders her mane ended abruptly and a fine coat of fur started. It was soft and fuzzy and not at all long, maybe a centimeter or two. Not meaning to I started working my fingers through her coat and I felt her shiver then relax against me letting her head fall in her hooves. Which were in my lap….

"S-stop there" Twilight said as I reached her mid back, "Past there it's considered to be an advance toward us as you've experienced with Applejack"

I chuckled at the memory rubbing my jaw, "Yeah, she sure can kick" I said bringing my hand back up to her neck and patting it, "So this is friendly interaction then, along with hugs and such, if I were to mean this in a "more than friendly" way would it be like this?" I traced her hair line and down her jaw like I would my nonexistent girlfriend.

She shivered again and I could feel her tense up, "Y-yes just like that" she said almost glowing in the face now.

"Hmmm" interesting it seemed to me that most of the interactions between each other were similar to my species, at least in some ways; I wonder what was different… "So if I were to touch your horn or ears how would that go over?"

Twilight jerked out of my lap and easy reach almost too quick to follow, her eyes were wide and her blush had seeped into her neck, "That bad huh?" I asked, I couldn't help the grin I had, her reaction was too comedic.

She nodded rigorously with a very stern look, "Oh yes…only our most trusted are allowed to do that, anypony were to ever do that to somepony without their explicit consent it would be as bad as….." she seemed to struggle for the right word.

"Rape" I finished softly looking away, "Good thing I asked cause all I've wanted to do since meeting you is rub your ears" I laughed softly, "So same thing with pegasi wings I'm guessing right?"

Again she nodded before snuggling closer again, "Other than that I'm sure it's the same between us, a soft touch on the foreleg can range from friendly to loving, depending on how long the contact and intentions, same with nuzzling" she fidgeted with her hooves not looking up at me, "If I were to nuzzle your cheek it would mostly be out of friendship, but if I were to do it under your ear or on your neck it'd be as an invitation for more"

I just nodded my head and found myself stroking her mane again; it was such an interesting color, purple…on a pony…odd if you think about it. "So being this close to me isn't a problem, I mean you're practically on top of me, to us it would be seen as an advance"

Twilight bolted her head up from my lap, "OH MY!" she scrambled backward almost falling off the couch, "I AM SO SORRY!"

"Hey…no…no…it's fine, I just thought I'd share, I was rather comfortable where you were, c'mon back" I said waving my hand toward me, "It's been a very long time since I was able to just….touch another living being"

Twilight eased back next to me and placed her hooves on my leg but she didn't rest her head down again instead she seemed to be thinking about something, "So tell me, what is ok for us to do around you, what are some of the customs of humans?"

I took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, "Well let's see…." I thought about it and decided to start with what not to do, "Ok so you see that I'm always wearing clothes and ya'll are not right?"

"Mmm-hmm" she said nodding staring right at me.

"Well that's because we have no fur or other things to cover our body, which are rather fragile, a harsh wind or a little bit of cold could damage us, but it's also for decency in company" I chuckled as I remembered some guys who streaked during some high school football games.

"What do you mean decency…we don't wear clothes all the time and it's not considered indecent or anything" Twilight said oh so innocently, but I think she had an inkling if her light red cheeks said anything.

"Well like I said, we don't have any type of fur that covers our body proficiently, without these clothes I'm pretty sure it'd be the same if someone lifted your tail straight up, all of your private bits for everypony to see!" I said laughing as she looked away and tucked her tail closer to herself, "Speaking of which….in my culture it's impolite to stare at another's backside without consent or by means of compliments, what about ya'll, I mean your Cutie Marks make it hard for me not to look"

Twilight nodded her head and with a little coaxing from my hand she relaxed and laid her head down again, "Yeah, its ok to glance, maybe ask what their Cutie Mark means and what not but long and blatant staring is uncomfortable and embarrassing to us, though it can be seen as a sign of interest as well"

"Really, heh just like us" I started to stroke her back like I used to do to my pet dogs, "So what else are signs of 'interest'"

"mmmhmm I haven't felt this relaxed in a while" Twilight sighed and seemed to just fall into herself, "Well for mares if we are interested into somepony our tails twitch back and forth slightly, we can't really control it and its general rule not to acknowledge it to save embarrassment and misunderstanding" She took a deep breath before continuing, "For pegasi when they get excited, surprised or see somepony they like their wings pop open all ridged and stiff, its rather funny and harder not to notice but again to be nice no one says anything unless the attention is wanted" She sighed as I started to massage her neck.

I let that all sink in for a moment before shifting so I Twilight had a little bit more of my leg as a pillow, "Hmm….things like that happen to humans though we don't have wings….." I started blushing a little suddenly feeling very awkward with Twilight lying in my lap of all places…first female to be this close to me since ever really…

Nope….Nope not going there, "Anyway Twilight, it's a little late mind if I set up my room?" when she didn't say anything I looked down only to see her fast asleep.

I slowly lifted her up and wriggled off the couch before putting a pillow under her head, I eased my way up the stairs and started to look for a proper closet. I found one that only had a mop and broom in it and took the folded piece of paper from my pocket and unfolded it. Placing it in the door way I once again saw it as it was, a room full of my magically made things. I closed the door and put two locks on it, one on top when turned opened the closet, the bottom which could only be turned by me and I alone would open my room.

Nifty little spell, it only activates when a particular soul tries to use it, doppelganger spell, aura copy spell; nothing can fool it because it reads the very soul of the caster and attunes only to it. I'm very paranoid as you might be able to tell. I developed it myself and I don't know if I'll teach it to anyone….in the wrong hands it could prove….troublesome.

I opened the lock and stepped into my room, when I closed the door I heard the lock click back so that no one could barge in unannounced. I smiled as I looked around, save for the technology I might be able to replace the furniture with real stuff now. Like I said anything can be made from magic, it just loses its….authenticity I guess. A magically made bed, for instance my four post bed over by the wall, would feel like a soft grainy pillow while the real thing would feel like clouds. Which would you have?

I plopped down on my bed and rolled over facing the wall and closed my eyes, I'd been up for nearly twenty six hours, saved a princess, a Pegasus, and fought Void….it's been a full day. Sighing deeply I slowly opened my mind up to the five creatures that had been buzzing in the recesses of my mind and the first thing I heard was Sky, telling my all about how upset I made her with my comment in the clearing.

"Stiles!" she said loudly, "I thought you considered me your friend why would you say we aren't"

"Tell us boy!" came Earths booming voice.

I could feel Space and Time pouting while Void was stoic, waiting for me to say something.

"I'm sorry, but when was the last time any of you asked what I wanted?" they all seemed to stop what they were doing, "When was the last time you asked yourself 'Hey maybe he needs a small breather?' never it's been training day in and day out every day for the last six years!"

I threw myself out of bed, "Given that this planet is thirty percent larger than mine, it takes nearly twenty eight hours to complete a day, meaning instead of three hundred sixty five days there is three hundred eighty six days to a year times that by six and you have….let's see…."

"Two thousand three hundred sixteen days" Void said impassively

"Yes thank you, two thousand three hundred sixteen days of nonstop training, being beaten down physically, mentally and spiritually without pause!" I threw my hands up, "You do not do that to a friend!" I sank into my lazy boy holding my head in my hands, "I've asked for nothing, I've given everything, and I don't even get a 'hey thanks sorry for ripping you from your home to battle some immense evil that has nothing to do with you', that's not a friend, that's a….."

"Slave" Void said again, in my mental eye I could see him almost fade into shadow, a look on his face I'd never seen before.

"Yes a slave so don't wonder why I don't feel very chummy with ya'll right now, I'm tired, irritated and I just want to sleep for the next few hours" I reclined in my chair and taking the smallest remote from the small table next to me turned on my stereo and soft music by Kevin Macleod eased out of the speakers located around my room surrounding me in soothing melody. "Goodnight everyone, sleep well"

No one answered, no one ever did.


	11. Chapter 11

**Well guys it's been a bit but the chapters should be getting longer now that the whole introduction phase is over. Don't worry I have everything planned and this story will be completed, but I'm not thinking of that quite yet. Enjoy and I hope to see a lot more comments in the comment section. Thanks for the support guys!**

**Hasbro owns all rights to MLP:FIM**

Chapter Eleven: Cat fights and Grand Galloping Galas

I woke up to Spotlight by Muse, I was wide awake and it was only six in the morning, the sun still partially below the horizon, you could see the stars fading slowing. I stood and stretched, I was stiff from sleeping in my armor, and it was starting to smell too. I opened one of my drawers and pulled out my favorite pair of cargo pants and sleeveless shirt, I wonder if Twilight would mind if I took a shower?

I undid my armor and let it drop to the floor along with my bracers and grieves, oh yeah they were stinking up a storm! Whew how could I sleep in that!? I opened my door and found a startled Twilight with damp hair and a tooth brush in her mouth.

"M-morning Stiles!" she said surprised, "I wasn't sure where you'd gone, I opened that door and all that was in it was an old broom!"

"A privacy spell I made, only I can open this door and it be my room, I like knowing I sleep undisturbed" I yawned and shook my head, "Mind if I use your shower?"

"Yea-Yeah go ahead third door on the right, need any help drawing a bath or anything?" Twilight asked levitating the brush out of her mouth.

"Nah I can manage I think, thanks" I made my way past her making sure my door closed all the way, with click of the lock I eased down the hall. The bathroom turned out to be straight across the hall from Twilights bed room cause I accidently opened the door and saw her bed, at the foot of her bed was a small basket holding a sleeping Spike. Cute.

"Sorry" I whispered before turning around and stepping into the bathroom, the shower was shorter than I, I was going to have to crouch to wash….great…maybe…

I snapped my fingers and the shower raised itself a little higher and the tub extended slightly, "Better!" I placed my stuff on the sink and started running the water, undressing I did my usual examination of myself. Last time I didn't I found a giant mud leach had attached itself to my left buttocks…..yeah not a good thing since it was both poisoning me and drinking my blood. I still get called leach butt by Void and Earth.

My hair was significantly longer since I arrived, kept tied back it didn't look long but unbound my bangs fell to my chin and the back reached just past my shoulders. A small spell help keep my facial hair in check, I'd lost the roundness that came with a sedentary life back in my world. Not saying I was fat but I lost the baby skin and gained sixty pounds of muscle in my time here, I was hardened by my training.

My eyes had changed colors, I had never noticed till now; they were once a dull brown almost black, now they were green with gold flecks. Awesome, maybe this planet gave off a small amount of radiation… it would explain the weirdness of the animals here. My old scars were still there on my torso and legs.

Many came from practicing fighting with Earth and Void, though Earth never physically fought me I did find out what happens to you in your mind is reflected on your body. The deeper more raised scars came from Voids serrated sword when I didn't move quite fast enough.

The mirror began to fog as the shower turned the right temperature, I stepped in and was met with six or seven different soaps and shampoos organized by alphabetical order. One said 'For luxurious manes' another said, 'A Soft coat' and the last one said "Two in One Frizz control and Conditioner"

I reached for one that said, "For tough dirt and sweat" A small amount on a wash cloth created a very lathery soap that smelled like crisp mountain flowers, great I'm gonna smell "Pretty" now. After rinsing off I found that I was twenty percent lighter… that's disturbing.

I grabbed a shampoo promising no tangles and manageable manes, a soft lavender smell consumed me as I worked it into my hair, letting it sit there I let the hot water sooth my back and shoulders. It'd been a long time since I had a decent shower, the one in my room always made the water feel…thick and not at all relaxing like this.

"What's your plan for today Stiles?" Void asked suddenly.

I nearly busted my ass trying to cover myself, I ripped the curtains back to glare at Void who was perched on the sink, "Void you ass hat I asked you to never pop in on my while I was washing, its rude and creepy!" I threw the curtain back and took a deep breath rinsing the shampoo out of my hair, "And to answer your question I might take the day to myself, I deserve that right?"

"Yes you do" Void said surprising me, of them all Void was the one who pushed me the most, constantly reminding me why I was here, "I'm….sorry Stiles, this whole thing is completely unfair to you"

I nearly shat myself, Void, the bringer of darkness, was apologizing to me for being an asshole, something he took great pride in, my warning flags nearly broke the mast going up so fast, "Void what's up, you're not acting like yourself?" I braced for a fight, he liked to lower your guard before striking.

"Nothing it's just that…well you've made things fun again, I haven't had a student since some poor Cristal Pony nearly two thousand years ago, he almost had the control you have…he lost to the pool of darkness" I heard him sigh, "He had such potential"

"What happened to him?" I asked turning so the hot water ran down my front.

"He suffered a fate worse than death, his body destroyed his soul was cast into banishment but that's in the past" I heard Void stand and saw his silhouette approach the shower, "Stiles I may be the father of darkness, but I do not want to see this world destroyed, you've been chosen and you cannot afford to lose focus" I took a deep breath to say something but Void continued over me, "Now the others might think that means constant training, but as you know I like to oppose them in any way I can, I believe it's a balance between training and freedom"

I stood dumbfounded; this demon of darkness that nearly killed me on a daily basis and had fun doing it was being….understanding, "Soooo….what?"

"You know the exercises you need to do to keep your skills honed so I am going to go and leave you be, your training has been over for a while you know?" Voids shadow was fading as he left, "The rest must be gained through experience, the others don't agree but I convinced them to back off for a while, there's nothing to do for a while, you're prepped now we just have to wait and let what will happen, happen"

"Thank you" I said as he vanished completely, what a psycho, yesterday he tries to kill me, today he gives me peace, the hell is wrong with these people or ponies or whatever!

I turn the water off and step out to dry, sliding my pants on I materialize a tooth brush and brush my teeth thinking about what Void said, my training had been over for a while huh? Then why keep me stuck at that god awful castle for so long? I had a feeling I was but a pawn on a chess board, I had not once felt any kind of darkness like they were describing since I got here, they are moving pieces about the board, setting up so they could easily check the King… and I couldn't see the plan.

A cold chill raced down my back, I hate being used and I had a feeling that was exactly what was going on. Gargling with a mouth wash that stated in sparkling letters "Whole day protection" I spit it out and slipped my shirt on, collecting my clothes I tossed them into my room before heading downstairs where I found a nice fruit salad breakfast and a beaming Twilight.

"Stiles you look quite good in common cloths and I didn't know your mane was so long!" She sounded surprised I could dress in anything other than armor.

"Yeah well I don't think I'll be needing my armor for a bit so I was thinking I'd put them through the wash, they stink of blood and sweat" I sat down at the table tying my hair back and started eating, "Any good Laundromats around here?"

"Well Rarity's boutique is famous for deep cleaning garments while keeping them structurally sound so we can stop by and drop them off, I'm going to give Applejack a hand on the farm today" Twilight said munching happily away.

"Cool" I stood and stretched taking my empty bowl and rinsing it out, "I think I'm going to take a walk around town and see the sights, I'd like to know the layout"

"Oh OK!" Twilight said floating her bowl to me, I washed it too and set to dry, "Spike and I will be leaving soon so gather the clothes you want washed and leave them by the door"

"Nah I'll walk with ya'll" I said as I headed to my room and throwing a few sets of clothes and my armor into a small sack I slipped my sandals on and headed out the room, Spike was just going down the stairs, "Hay Spike how ya doin?"

"I'm fine, not really wanting to go and pick some stupid apples but it's better than sitting here all day, ever since I was hatched it's been library after library" he looked at his scaled arms, "I mean look how dull my scales are, they're supposed to be bright and shiny!"

I chuckled, "Maybe you and me could hang out later, I could teach ya a thing or two about fighting, maybe toughen you up a little, get those scales in shape, impress the ladies" I said waggling my eyebrows.

The scales on his face turned a darker purple than normal, "I-I don't care what girls think of me!" he said before bounding down the stairs, when he reached the bottom he stopped and looked back at me, "Though I wouldn't mind hanging out with another guy…too many girls around here"

"Yeah why is that, why are the number of girls to guys so much greater?" I asked, I noticed while Twilight and I were out yesterday it was nearly seven to one.

He shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know really…but to tell you I don't think most of the ponies here mind…" He turned dark again, "The way it seems is that nobody has a problem…sharing"

I blushed scarlet at those implications, "I-I see" I reached the bottom of the stairs as Twilight came out of the kitchen, "What are you guys talking about?"

Me and Spike looked different ways, "Nothing" we said together, giving us odd looks Twilight turned away and started walking towards the door, Spike nudged me and when I looked down he was pointing at Twilight and mouthed "She wouldn't mind sharing"

I think I busted a vessel in my nose cause it started to bleed a little, Spike was laughing his ass off and I quickly hid my nose when Twilight turned back around, "What has gotten into you two?!"

I shook my head and booted Spike in the butt, "N-nothing Twilight, are we ready to go?" Spike asked innocently.

She nodded her head, said something like "Boys" and pushed the door open, I looked down at spike and grinned, "Good one Spike, you gave me a heart attack, I'll get ya back don't worry" I followed Twilight out ducking under the door with Spike behind me still laughing.

We passed a few buildings when the Boutique came into view, all of the ponies waved and smiled and said good morning, I was offered a "Daisy Sandwich" by Applebloom on her way to school but I politely declined, if it was like the hayburger then it was indeed a flower between two pieces of bread. I don't think my stomach could handle it.

Twilight knocked on the door and entered; Rarity was in back somewhere and said she'd be with us in a moment. "Twilight, Stiles!" Rarity bustled around the counter of her shop and hugged Twilight, "Good to see you two!" she turned to me and almost gave me a hug but seemed to think better of it, instead she leaned against me for a second before turning back to Twilight.

"So darling what brings you to my most fabulous shop?" she asked going back around the counter.

"Well Stiles was hoping to get some clothes washed" Twilight motioned toward the sack I was holding at arm's length away from me.

"They stink of blood and sweat, some set in blood stains and ichor, got anything strong enough for them?" I asked as the sack was enveloped by blue aura and floated toward the back.

"I'm a Fashionista, if I couldn't take out a little blood and such then I'd be a disgrace to the industry" She said hotly, she kept looking at my clothes and grimaced slightly.

"Problem Rarity?" I looked at my pants thinking there was a stain, but I noticed Spike had said not one word since we entered and I saw he was so infatuated with Rarity he was literally floating. I smirked a little, don't care for girls opinions my butt.

"Darling those cloths look so dreadful!" She rushed over and started picking at my pants and shirt, "They're so rough and coarse how can you be comfortable in this drab attire?"

"Well they were made with magic so of course they aren't the best but I've had to make due for several years, but if you don't mind making me some better ones I'd pay you for the trouble" I said stepping out of her reach, her picking had kept getting closer to sensitive areas. I don't think she noticed till she saw how uncomfortable I was getting.

Her white coat turned a little pink as she stepped back, "Sure thing darling I'll take the measurements from the clothes here and make you some right up!"

I nodded and then sighed, "I'd have to pay you when I could…I don't have any money" I looked at the floor embarrassed, she was going to make me clothes and I didn't have any way to pay her, how humiliating.

She laughed a light laugh that spoke of high upbringing, "No worries at all sweetie, pay me when you can, I'll give you a fair deal, just pay for the material and maybe lunch and I'll call it even" She passed by Spike who was smiling like a fool.

"Hay Rarity!" He said quietly, she turned back to him and pecked his cheek.

"Hay Spike, how are you?" the glint in her eye told me she knew exactly what she was doing to him as he nearly keeled over holding his cheek. Little tease.

"Thanks Rarity me and Spike need to get going, we're helping Applejack today" Twilight said grabbing Spike with her magic and setting him on her back, "See you later Stiles have fun today!"

"See ya" I turned back to Rarity and looked around it seemed that she kept everything in order, well as much as a seamstress would, there were strands of thread and scrap material lying about and it seemed to be worse behind the big curtain where I assumed her actual work station was, "You know Rarity I could help clean up if ya like, I was going to tour the town but I'd like to help you since you're helping me"

"That would be marvelous darling!" Rarity exclaimed levitating me a broom and dust pan, "Any scrap material should be saved so if it is usable put it in that bin right there darling thank you, when you're done here come on back and I'll show you what's next ok?" She swooped behind the curtain before I could answer; seem she wasn't shy about accepting help.

I started sweeping up and did a little dusting, there were several large pieces of scrap that I tossed in the bin, the dust pan was nearly full by the time I finished behind the counter, I walked back to her work area and was met with a giant stage with an equally huge mirror behind it, four or five mannequin ponies, and debris everywhere. Scraps left and right with enough thread on the floor to weave a carpet, seemed like when she got into a project her lady like organization went out the window.

I dumbed the dust pan and started again while Rarity was loading my clothes in an industrial washer, the scraps I found could have made me three or four sets of clothes and have some left over for a nice sweater, amazing how much fabric she goes through, and by the looks she seems to try and never use the same ones again.

I'm no seamstress but I could sew up a dandy pair of pants in a minute but the speed at which Rarity was moving and only using her magic in the least, was impressive. Instead of using her magic to bind the clothes or even stitch them she used a sewing machine much like the ones I saw in home-ec classes.

"Need anything else Rarity?" I asked tossing the last of the salvageable scraps in the bin.

"Oh no darling I ever do appreciate your cleaning up my mess" she laughed nervously and crossed her front legs blushing lightly, "I can be a little….un-lady like when I start a good project, thank you, now be off you have better things I assume to do than stand around watching a fashionista work!" with that she turned back to her measuring tapes and scissors.

I let myself out and noticed it was well on its way to nine in the morning, I lost nearly three hours tidying up the Boutique, dang! I strolled around and found myself in the town square, ponies going back and forth buying and selling and running errands. I saw Big Mac selling his apples and headed over, he nodded to me as he saw me approach.

"Morning Big Mac, doing good today?" I asked perusing the apples with a hungry glint.

"Eyup" Pony of few words this one.

"Big Mac do you know of a blacksmith around here, my sword got damaged and I need to make a new one?" I asked polishing an apple before setting it back.

"Eyup" he pointed toward Sugar Cube Corner, "Right past there you'll find the shop, just smell for smoke and steel" He tossed me the apple I was eyeing, "Be careful of old Heavy Hammer, he's real particular about who uses his forge"

I nod and take a bite of the apple, it was crisp, fresh, and on the very peak of ripeness, "Thanks Mac" I said as I walked away, Big Mac nodded and turned his attention onto a mint green mare that started taking stock of the stall.

I might not make the sword today but I'd like to get a look at the forge and see if it was what I needed, I passed Sugar Cube Corner just as Pinkie poked her head out of the door and hailed me over. I approached with caution as it seemed she had a habit of tackling others to the ground to talk to them, "Hay Pinkie what's up?"

"Oh nothing I was just wonder if you'd like to try one of our new muffins!" she pulled a small plate out with a muffin that seemed to have chocolate chips and banana chips in it, "It's our Choconanna Muffin"

"Looks amazing!" I took it just as a gray Pegasus crashed next to me, I kneeled down and helped her up she shook her head and it made her eyes seem to cross, "A-are you ok?"

She closed her eyes holding her head, "Yeah I heard muffin and I just had to see what it was!" when she looked at me I noticed her eyes were still crossed and a brilliant yellow, as were her mane and tail.

Remembering what Twilight said I glanced at her cutie mark and away without lingering and no one seemed to notice. Her Cutie Mark was seven blue bubbles scattered around her flank.

"Morning Ditzy!" Pinkie pie yelled, "You just missed the last of our new batch sorry!" she said looking sad.

"Aww no way!" she looked at my muffin before pouting and tears started to well up in her eyes, I just sighed, I was going to die from cuteness overload before even seeing my first real fight.

I broke the muffin in two and offered her the larger half, "Here, how about we share, I had a big breakfast anyway" I smiled as she hesitantly took the half from me, looking at me with those big doe eyes.

"Really?" and as I nodded my head she shrieked happily and started munching away, I laughed and ate my bit, it was really, really good, "Oh man Pinkie you out did yourself!" Ditzy stated happily finishing off her muffin; she suddenly jumped up and wrapped her hooves around my neck giving me a hug that nearly knocked me off balance.

"Oh ok well thank you" I said blushing lightly, I guess softness was a natural thing for their coats because she was just as soft as Twilight, when the hug continued after the amount of time its commonly accepted I bent down and set her back hooves on the ground, "Uh…you- you can let go if you want"

She dropped back onto all fours with a small tint of red around her nose, "Sorry" she laughed before flapping her wings and hovering above me, "Thank you for the Muffin mister if you ever need to deliver something just find me, I'll be around just listen for things breaking!" with that she flew off if unsteadily so.

"See ya" I called, I looked at Pinkie who was grinning a sly smile, I blushed not liking the look in her eyes, "Well bye Pinkie see ya later!" I waved walking away.

"See ya later stud" she called loudly which my ears got burning, with a thud the door to the eatery closed.

"Stupid girls gotta make things weird" I mumbled under my breath, I rounded a corner and saw a small brick building that had steady stream of heat waves rising from the back. The smell of smoke and metal heavy in the air, "Must be the place"

I rounded the building and was nearly blasted with scorching hot air, there was a war horse, no other way to describe this massive pony, hammering away at what looked like a fine rot iron head board for a bed. The eccentric leaf and vine work shaped and etched into the material spoke volumes of his devotion to his craft.

His hooves seemed to hold the hammer without the need for fingers, and the power behind his swings meant he had been smithing for quite a while.

I stood by and let him finish the piece, as he set it down to cool slowly, if he had quenched it, it could have shrunk the metal and ruin the fine details. That's what happens when you cool metal rapidly, letting it slowly cool down reduces the chance of unwanted bends in the metal.

"Hail to you Heavy Hammer!" for I assumed that's who it was.

"Hail stranger, what brings you to my furnace?" he said smiling at me, his smile faltered when he took a good look at me, "The hell creature are you, bah don't matter none to me if ya need work or have work you're welcome, come sit a spell and tell me what brings you" His head was level with mine, meaning he was slightly taller than Big Mac and a lot taller than Fluttershy.

I sat down on the thick wooden stump used to softly mold the metal without leaving hammer blow dents in it, "I was hoping for you to allow me to use your forge, my sword shattered in a fight and I haven't got a spare"

His smile had faded completely by the time I finished, "I see…I don't let no one touch my forge without me knowing they can use it properly, you wanna make a sword huh?" he got up and started gathering several bars of metal, iron, steel, and aluminum. Along with chips and lumps of metal that was unformed or impure.

"Pick and choose the metals you'd use for your sword" He smirked looking at my sandals, "IF you can choose the correct ones we'll see what you know of the tools"

He obviously thought I was one of those people who have a skewed view of blacksmithing. In the movies it takes a music montage and a few hours to properly forge a weapon of war. Not even close. Most swords take days if weeks to properly make, any impurity to the metal and the integrity of the weapon is lost and it could potentially cost you your life.

I stood and started examining the metals, tapping them together, setting the steel bar aside; it was heavier than the aluminum, but slightly brighter than the iron. I started sorting the chips and lumps of metal by density, tapping them with a small ballpein hammer the steel rang clear with soprano, the iron rung with a deeper tone and Aluminum sang flat and lifeless.

Placing the steel chips with the bar of steel, arranging the Iron together I told him, "The iron wouldn't make a good blade but as a guard and hilt cap the dense metal would be more than superior. The aluminum, other than filigree inlay for a handle, which is purely decretory, would be next to useless as a main feature"

"Good, good, you know your metals" He sighed deeply before looking back at the iron head board, "We'll have to continue this later, I need to finish this piece by lunch for a very important client"

"Yeah no problem" I held out my hand, "Nice to meet you Heavy Hammer"

He shook my hand with his hoof violently, "Same to you…"

"Stiles"

"Stiles then" he laughed a deep laugh letting go of my hand, "Nice to meet someone that isn't completely incompetent around the forge, I'll see you some time about your sword making" He picked up a small rod of iron and popped it in the middle of his forge and started pumping the bellows causing sparks to jump into the air and an intense wave of heat to rise up.

I decided to head back to the Library, maybe look for something to read, I passed by Big Mac again and he nodded his head, he was packing up the stall as dark clouds were being pushed in by the pegasi ponies. So that's how they control the weather, cool, it's a combination of Chaos and Order magic mixed with Nature magic.

I had entered the Library just as it started to pour, I was half expecting Twilight and Spike to be back with the bad weather but they weren't there. Shrugging I started with the fiction side of the library and started looking for a decent book. I read any and all books, but I wanted a good adventure right now.

Titles ranged from "Adventures of Daring Doo and the Crystal Pony" depicting an adventurer holding a small crystal pony shadowed by a menacing creature that looked like an eel of some sort with bat wings and four legs….ok then. To more…..risky book titles like "Fifty Shades of Sunset" featuring what looked like a royal princess tied to bed posts with a sultry look on her face….staying clear of that one I grabbed a book titled "The Werepony of Manehattan" I love a good werewolf story or, Werepony as it were.

I had just cracked open the book when Spike busted through the door like his tail was on fire, he was breathing heavy, "Spike what wrong?" I said suddenly.

He jumped and held his chest falling stiffly to the floor, "Jeez Stiles you scared the fire out of me!" he looked left then right, "Got anyplace we can go these ponies are INSANE!" He tried to rush up the stairs but I caught him by the tail holding him upside down in front of me.

"Whoa little dude what happen?" I asked, he took a deep breath and started explaining frantically the day.

Apparently after helping Applejack Twilight got a letter inviting her and one other to a Grand Galloping Gala, a big celebration held once a year and apparently a big deal to everypony. Then ensued a slew of corrupt attempts to win Twilights favor and thus the extra ticket, though it seemed to harm Twilight more than help her. Finally Spike was forced to wear these god awful clothes so he dashed home without stopping.

I laughed and set Spike down, "Yeah I'd like to stay out it as well…."

A sudden flash of light and Twilight was standing in front of us, judging by her stunned and confused look she had accidentally cast a teleportation spell, she focused on me before launching herself into my arms, I barely had time to catch her, dropping Spike to scurry away silently.

"Stiles please help me, hide me, kill me, anything I can't take this anymore!"

Suddenly her friends appeared in the balcony smiling down at her, "Hay Twilight!" they all yelled, Twilight cowered in my arms hiding her face, whispering "Stop…just please stop" while they were fighting amongst themselves at the top of the stairs.

I took a deep breath meaning to calmly tell them to hang on a second but what came out was more like "IF YA'LL DON'T CALM THE FUCK DOWN I WILL REMOVE YOUR VOICES PERMENTALLY!" Twilight jerked in my arms nearly falling to the floor, spike was cowering under the coffee table and the others were hiding behind the railing at the top of the stairs, "Twilight has something to say"

"Please guys I can't do this anymore it's driving me CRAZY!" she fell to the floor cover her head with her hooves, "I just can't decide because no matter what I'll be making everypony else unhappy and I can't I just can't!"

Applejack walked up to her and put a hoof around on her head, "Hay sugar I'm sorry…I didn't mean to upset ya, I don't want that ticket no more, you can give it to someone else, I won't bother you about it again"

After that everyone else gave up their call on the ticket except Rainbow Dash who started strutting in the air about how the ticket was hers, but a quick glare from me had her give up her call to it too, Twilight smiled like she finally thought of a solution.

"Spike take a note please!" Spike pulled a quill and paper from the table and poised to write, "Dear Princess Celestia, though I would be happy to attend the Gala I could not very well do so if all of my friends couldn't come as well, so I will be sending back the tickets, thank you" She slipped the tickets into the scroll as Spike rolled it up.

He took a deep breath and blew green fire onto it, it dispersed into a dark smoke which then flew out the window. That is pretty neat, sending letters like that, wonder if I could learn that spell. Everyone was doing a group hug thing, guess Twilight wasn't kidding about the contact thing, me and Spike were standing a little way when Spike started gagging.

"Just like a boy, can't handle a little emotion!" Applejack said walking up to him and with a sudden belch green fire nearly singed her hat as a letter materialized to land in front of Twilight.

"Dear Twilight, why didn't you just say so in the first place?!" and suddenly six tickets popped out and started floating around everypony.

Everypony started laughing till Twilights belly gave a roar, they all decided to treat her to dinner for the trouble today, Spike was pouting though, "What about me?" and with a sudden burst again he had two tickets in his hand with a small note, "For you and Stiles, Spike"

I took my ticket from him and looked at it skeptically, "Gala huh?" I watched as Spike left with the others, he looked back and motioned for me to join them I just shook my head and waved him good bye, he just shrugged and followed after everypony.

I teleported the ticket into my dresser drawer and made my way into the kitchen, I pulled down a small pot and pulled some potatoes and carrots out, letting the water boil I chopped up some veggies and popped them in the pot. Calling my small leather pouch with my salted meats I threw them in with some flour making a thick stew of sorts. Enough for me with none left over, I know they were trying to be ok with my meat eating but I'd rather not force my habits onto company.

I dished out the stew and cleaned up while it cooled a bit; while I was eating I started drawing up designs for my new sword. I decided on a single edge design that widened at the tip and five inches down from the tip on the spine of the blade it was double edged and lightly serrated. The serrations would cause problems with a traditional sheath, so would the widening of the point so I'd have to make a custom sheath for it as well.

Yawning I gathered my dishes and washed them, grabbing my drawings I made my way to my room, I was half way up the stairs when Twilight came in with a sleeping dragon on her back, "Oh good Stiles I wanted to say thank you for helping me today"

"I didn't do anything, just yelled a little" I chuckled as Twilight came up the stairs; she went ahead of me and turned back so she was face to face with me.

"Yes but you gave me a chance to speak and it all worked out so thank you" She gave me a small peck on the lips before turning and going back up the stairs, careful not to joist spike awake.

I stood there completely caught off guard, I couldn't even blush, what was that about? As I watched her round the corner I noticed her tail twitched slightly, oh no. I shook my head and convinced myself to think nothing of it, I opened my door and stepped through shedding my shirt and sandals, slipping my pants off I climbed into bed stretching out.

I fell asleep quickly but I could still feel Twilights kiss on my lips as the world turned dark.

Somewhere deep in untamed land a Queen raises her head towards the east, shimmering green eyes peeking out beneath a pail green mane. Turning her head she took stock of her company, beetle like ponies with no mane or tail and bug eyes were feasting recklessly. Their hosts, Minotaurs, were dying slowly and every so painfully.

"My dears our food is running low, where do you think we should move to next?" she looked down at the husk of a small minotaur, he was still alive but he was almost soulless, as were the thousands that once inhabited this small quaint settlement.

A deep thrumming buzz filled the air as black silhouettes rose from the crumpled dilapidated houses, some of the stronger willed inhabitants would survive, but for the rest of their lives they will wake with nightmares that would break even the fiercest of dragons.

She rose into the air twirling gracefully sucking the last ounce of emotion from the young body, her lips sealed around his in a kiss of death, "Where oh where shall we go?" She laughs hauntingly as she draws his soul into herself, letting the drained victim plummet to blood soaked corpses, she remembered a time where she tried so hard not to kill, and to harm even one host would be a death sentence.

But that was before.

That was then.

This is now.

Anger begets anger, revenge begets revenge, and the circle continues till the whole world is…..

Blind.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter Twelve: How to Train Your Dragon…..I think.

Darkness, a soft touch on bare skin, cold and hard, too hard to be skin, too warm to be metal, what is this touching me?

I open my eyes and find myself looking into the dull dead eyes of Twilight Sparkle; I try to move, to scream. My magic is gone; I am motionless and powerless as I am raised up, a pale green aura filling my vision. A pony, one with hard black chitin enters my vision; a cold hollow laugh escapes her fanged mouth.

"This is a champion?" she asked with her dual tone, behind her Applejack and Rainbow Dash skewered through the middle holding each other in an eternal brace, "Pathetic creature you are, you'd dare stand against me?!" she threw me repeatedly into the cobblestones, "Now watch as the last of these pathetic elements die!"

"nn…nnnNNN" I try to speak but my mouth won't move.

She slowly approaches a chained Fluttershy, who whimpers and tries to cower before the monsters aura grabs her, she drags Fluttershy kicking and screaming, closer to her. Almost like a lover this creature embraces Fluttershy, looking her deep in the eyes she lowers her head towards Fluttershy, and with a deep moan seals her mouth around Fluttershys.

My very body burns as I try to stand, try to say something, I watch as this demon forces Fluttershys mouth open and suddenly a small yellow smoke escapes from the corners of their joined mouths. Fluttershys eyes widen as the other closes, their mouths part and with a jerk a small light is ripped from Fluttershy. My body freezes as I watch this son of a bitch swallow Fluttershys soul.

Black fills my vision, rage burns my thoughts and I sit up in my bed, dark magic spewing from my body destroying everything in reach, "OOOOOAAAAHAUUUUGGG!" My throat shreds as I scream fighting the image of Fluttershy, soulless as she falls to the ground, a silent plea of help on her lips.

My eyes rip open as hands restrain me. The calm face of Void looming over me I try to calm my heart and breathing, he lets go of me as I stopped flailing and the Dark Magic dissipated, "V….void" I whisper my throat destroyed.

"Shhhhh little one, shhh" He tenderly pats my head, "It was just a nightmare" he sits on my bed not looking at me, "Well…..mostly, what you saw was a vision, a vision that will come true if nothing is done"

I sit up and start a healing spell on my throat, "vision of the future?" I whisper before grabbing his shoulder, "what must be done, Void, who…what is that Creature!" my voice repaired I coughed a little.

"That was Queen Chrysalis, ruler of a faction of Changelings" Void knocked my hand off standing abruptly, "Glad I came when I did, you'd have destroyed the village if I'd let you continue" looking around I saw the damage I inflicted, the stink of Dark Magic permeated the space, with a flick of his fingers Void repaired my room and rid it of all traces of Dark Magic, "Better"

"Changelings!" I thought back to everything I ever read about changelings, they fed off of emotion, food could sustain them but emotion was what gave them the most power, the small drones could not usually live long alone without a hive. They never said anything about soul sucking.

"Queen Chrysalis is the only Changeling, Queen or otherwise, that has the ability to steal souls" Void said reading my mind, "A power only gained by breaking a Death Wish" Void said pacing over to my entertainment center flicking through the movies there.

"Death Wish?" I ask getting out of bed, forgetting I was completely nude….

Void wolf whistled and waggled his eye brows, "Someone likes nightmares!" he cackled tossing me the boxers hanging off my recliner.

Blushing furiously I was hopping on one foot trying to get the damn things on, I couldn't pull them up fast enough, "A Death Wish is a promise, made from a dying creature to another, if the living end of the wish breaks the promise they gain certain abilities but loose certain attributes, such as pity, forgiveness, acceptance, that sorta thing" Void said as I started to put pants on.

"Hmmm…Interesting" I looked over to Void as I pulled on a Eco shirt, "So what can I do?"

"You?" Void shook his head and laughed, "You do nothing, this threat will make its way to you, I'll make sure of it, you will gather your things and meet me at the ruins, I said your training was done, but I devised something new for you to try"

I groaned and took my shirt and jeans back off to slip into my training cloths and armor, "Man I've just gotten away from that damp old place!"

"Shut up you pussy" Void said slapping me lightly on the head, "It's just for three or four days"

I yawned and stretched, "When do you want me there?"

Void stepped into the darker shadows and started fading from sight, "Today, before sunset, that is when we will begin, the training will be in twelve hour intervals with a six hour rest"

"Great speed training, my fave!" I say in fake enthusiasm.

"That's my well-endowed prodigy!" Void said completely disappearing when I tossed my shoes at him.

Blushing I opened my door to find Spike just coming from Twilights room, "Morning Spike what time is it?"

"Six thirty I think, couldn't sleep, weird dream, why are you up so early?" Spike said rubbing his eye.

"Same" I said softly, "Tell Twilight I'll be back in a few days, I'm being summoned to the ruins for a little extra training"

"What!" Spike yelled, "Oh NO you are not leaving me here with these girls all alone!" He crossed his arms and huffed before smiling up at me, "Can I come too, you promised to hangout and train me a perfect time to!"

I shook my head, "What about Twilight, I'll be gone for nearly a week, do you want to leave her without her number one assistant?" I really didn't want him to come, it'd be stressful enough dealing with Void but a baby dragon as well?

"It's ok, Spike can go, he needs some guy time, I'm not totally helpless you know Stiles" Twilight said coming around the corner, her mane was unkempt and sticking in every direction, "Get him out of the house for a bit, he needs some fresh air"

Spike was dancing in joy and I was groaning on the inside and smiling on the outside, "Ok fine but as part of your training you are going to have to carry everything, help build your strength while we hike" I said, Spike nodded in agreement before dashing off to pack, I sighed and smoothed my hair back before tying it up.

"What's wrong Stiles, I can feel your worried about something, how I don't really know, but it's just a feeling" Twilight said bumping against me softly, I stroked her mane and neck thinking about our promise to each other.

"Well I'm just worried, I mean, Spike is a baby dragon, is it alright to train him, and in the middle of my training things get…..out of hand, even more so when it involves Void" I patted her neck before turning back to my room, I left the door open so Twilight could enter.

I could hear her poking and picking things up and making little sounds of wonder and intrigue, it was cute. I pulled out a magically expanded camping pack and started packing; I wasn't going to bring the whole place with me this time seeing that I wasn't planning on moving out there. Instead I brought a sleeping pack and blanket, cooking utensils and some basic supplies and medic kits incase Spike gets hurt.

I turned around to see Twilight staring at my phone on my bedside table, the out lay of my room was kinda like a one room apartment everything together with enough room to walk, I walked over and picked it up turning it on I let it sync with my speakers before playing some of my music. The look on Twilights face when Hallelujah started playing suddenly was awesome.

"Stiles what is that thing!?" She said pulling my arm down so she could look at it again, "It started playing music when you touched it!"

"It's called a Cell Phone, It's a device from my world that allows people across the world to talk to each other instantly like they were in the same room" I said turning it back off and tossing it in my pack, might not be essential but I like music while I train.

"That's so COOL!" she squealed and pranced a little, "Can you show me something else before you go?!"

There she goes with those begging doe eyes again, sighing I sat down and nodded, we had plenty of time to spare, it was only half a day's journey to the ruins through the forest, and the sun had just risen, "Sure"

I let her listen to some more music she was impressed by a couple of Dubstep songs saying they sounded a lot like what DJPON3 played at Pinkies parties, seemed like I was going to have to push my party back again….sorry Pinkie. I showed her my game stations, she could use the controls thanks to her magic but otherwise Ponies wouldn't be able to use it, she was rather good a racing games.

After one last round of racing, which Spike had won after joining us with a light hiking pack, it was about midday and time for us to head out, as Spike walked out the door with both his and my packs I turned to Twilight who was waving us bye from the check out counter, "Twilight tell the others I'm off and apologise to Pinkie for delaying the party, OK?"

"No worries Stiles have fun and kick some butt!" she said smiling as I closed the door.

Me and Spike started our journey together and to kill time we played twenty questions, I had answered his tenth by the time we reached the forest entrance, he froze momentarily as the shadow of the trees passed over him. I saw him take a deep breath before continuing and not dwelling on it I asked my next question.

"So Spike as a baby dragon what do you eat, I know you can eat regular food but do you eat anything specific?" I asked dodging under a low branch.

"Well I like to snack on gems myself, their crunchy and each type has unique flavor, oh ruby is my favorite, it's kinda spicy and tangy and the crunch is subtle but oh so good!" He was starting drool a little.

"Really, gems?" I was surprised but then again his teeth seemed to be fitted for it, they were sharp but seemed to be just a bit blunt, wonder if he ate meat….being raised by ponies I'd think his chance to would be nill, "Hay Spike not going out of order but I got something I'd like you to try"

"Umm Ok?" Spike said giving me a strange look.

"Here" I handed him a piece of dried venison, not nice but hey I'd like to see if he liked it.

He eyed it skeptically before tearing a piece off, his teeth sliced right through it like butter, "Oh wow!" he started humming as he chewed, "So chewy and tasty!" he took another big bite, "Oh wow it's salty and it has a deep flavor what is this Stiles!"

I grinned widely, "It's dried Venison"

"What's Venison?" he asked stuffing the last bite in his mouth

"Deer meat" I said simply waiting for the reaction I knew was coming and I wasn't disappointed.

At the word meat he gulped, swallowing the jerky, before turning green and gaging, "Meat!?" he yelled holding his stomach and mouth; "Oh god I don't feel well" he nearly dropped before catching a tree and leaning against it.

"Oh stop" I said pacing back to him, "You were enjoying it before I told you what it was" I pulled another piece out and started munching on it, Spike seemed to turn greener but didn't deny he had liked the dried meat, "Now stop being a wussy and let's keep moving we're close to the ruins, shouldn't be more than another hour or two" the sun was on a quick decent, weird how time flies when with a friend.

He nodded before steeling himself and walking ahead of me, chest puffed and back straight, playing the strong kid, he was adorable, after I was done with him, he'd be deadly. Shaking my head I took two strides and was even with him, and slowly offered him another piece of jerky, not looking at him or him at me he took it and started softly chewing it. His body would need the protein for my training, I wouldn't be as harsh as the others were on me, but he was going to be sore for days on end.

"Alright my next question Stiles" Spike said after swallowing the bite of jerky, "How do you feel about the others?"

"Well I think they're great, they're all nice and everything, they each have room to grow as friends but they're all great" I said thinking how Rarity seemed to ignore others and Applejack too hard headed to admit she was wrong.

"No I mean do you LIKE any of them, like as a marefriend" Spike took another bite of jerky, seeming to hate himself for liking it so much.

I laughed, he was quite advanced for a baby dragon, maybe they matured faster than other species, "I don't know what you mean Spike, I'm a different species all together, even if I did and I'm not saying I do, would they be able to like me back in the same sense?"

"So what if you're a different species, ponies and griffins can be together, as well as with dragons, zebra, just about anypony can be with anypony as long as they love each other, that's all that matters right?" Spike said it so absolutely I was taken aback.

Of course he would think so, he was in love with Rarity, a pony, and could I fall in love here, easily, could I accept it….probably. Even if I did there's that part where I might not be accepted or loved the same way in return.

"Ok Spike, but to answer your question no I do not think of any of them as anything more than friends, now my question is, why don't you have wings, I thought all dragons had wings" I looked down at him trying to see any indication of wings, there were none.

"That's easy, I haven't grown them yet!" he laughed, "Dragons don't get wings till their third birthday when we are fully developed, we still grow larger but by our third birthday we are pretty much mature"

"Dang, you only get three years of child hood, that's kinda suckish" I figured they matured faster than other creatures.

"Nah, I can't wait to be able to fly, and by then I'll be as big as Twilight maybe then Rarity will…." He blushed liked he said too much.

I smiled as we left the forest canopy and was greeted with the short rope bridge leading to the castle, Spike gulped loudly looking down and quickly backed up and nearly fell. I laughed and started across when I was half way I looked back and saw Spike inching his way forward. At least he didn't give up easily.

When Spike crossed and finished having his mini heart attack we entered the large barren court yard of the castle, "Finally!" Void said appearing out of the shadows suddenly, that was the last straw for Spike as he collapsed clutching his chest the bags tossed aside Spike was screaming silently.

"Void you didn't have to scare the poor guy!" I said hanging off of him laughing my ass off.

Void harrumphed and slid out from under my arm, "Yes I did, why did you bring a lizard with you, I know you don't like carrying your own weight but he will just get in the way" At that Spike popped up and blew green fire at Void.

"Hay you jerk I will not be in the way, besides Stiles promised to train me!" Void stepped towards him causing him to scramble backwards behind our stuff.

"Void stop, we have work to do" I said stepping between Void and Spike.

Void scoffed but nodded before eyeing Spike again he sat down and motioned for me to sit in front of him, "First twelve hours will be in your mind, I must transfer the knowledge of how to do this little trick, I cannot teach you, to know it you must already know it, like a place that can't be found except by people who already found it"

"That's about as clear as mud" I said before turning to Spike, "In sets of forty, pushups, squats, and crunches, as many sets as you can, after that two laps around the court yard, we need to build your endurance before I can teach you anything"

"Got cha!" Spike said as he started his work out.

I turned back to Void and nodded, I'd done this before, to learn a certain spell or technique I had to sometimes meld my mind with the others, kinda like sharing space but with our thoughts, some things just couldn't be taught for some reason. Closing my eyes I let myself open to Void, an inky solid mass of darkness wrapped itself around my consciousness before intertwining with my very thoughts.

"_Really Stiles, why bring a baby dragon, he'll only slow you down, take your concentration away from your studies"_ Void said to me in my own mind, I could feel his vast knowledge just out of reach as he sorted his thoughts and shaped them so they could enter my mind with little pain.

"_A promise is a promise, and I have a question, I made a pact with Twilight and sealed it with a touch of magic, and now she's able to sense when something is bugging me can that be a side effect?"_ I asked letting Voids thoughts become mine, a stabbing pain in my frontal lobe told me it was working.

"_More than likely, did it feel like your souls touched?"_ Void asked as the last bit of knowledge was passed to me.

"_More or less"_ I shook my head both mentally and physically as we backed out of my mind, when I opened my eyes it was dark, the moons position told me it was a little past nine in the morning, it was almost nine when we started so the first twelve hours had passed.

"Then I have to say you are bound to your miss Sparkle, the bond will grow with your friendship and you should be able to hear each other's thoughts soon, then the distance at which it extends should increase" Void said standing and stretching, I heard several vertebrae pop, I did the same and looked around for Spike.

"That little punk" Void said pointing to the far end of the courtyard.

Spike was trudging our way, when he saw us standing and watching him he waved and picked up the pace, when he reached my feet he collapsed breathing really hard, "You guys took forever I think I did a thousand pushups!"

I grinned kneeling down and picking the poor dragon off the ground, "Spike ya idiot I told you to stop when you couldn't do anymore, but you showed real promise, you trained for twelve hours strait nonstop!"

Void created several seats from shadows while I started a small fire; setting Spike in one to rest I pulled some pots and pans out. Void walked up to me and dropped seven dead pheasants at my feet before taking a seat and preparing a spit. I gathered the birds and started cleaning them; I forgot Spike wasn't used to dead animals I looked over when I heard him gagging.

He was pale green watching me not blinking at all, Void was silently enjoying his dismay and intrigue, "Spike if ya can't handle it don't watch, I can make you something else if you want" I said moving to block his view of the birds.

Spike shook his head, "We found out my kind eats meat, I need to get used to it, and I'm more disgusted with myself than what you're doing" he shook his head and gagged again, "As horrible as it feels to know some poor animal has died just so we don't go hungry, I'm really curious as to how it'll taste….am I a bad guy?"

"Little one, it is not bad to eat meat, it is not bad to be who you are, most dragons these days have no stomach for meat, that's why they grow so slowly, a healthy diet for a dragon consists of a portion of meat with every meal" Void said standing the Y shaped sticks on either side of the fire, getting up and brushing his hands off he comes over and grabs the birds from me and stakes them over the fire, "If you eat meat with us every day when we eat you'll grow faster and stronger and BE faster and stronger than any of your vegetarian brothers"

Disposing of the innards appropriately which means wrapping them in grass and leaves and burying them deeply, I sent a silent thank you to them for giving us nourishment, "Just remember to give thanks to them that we may grow strong, always respect the creatures you consume, for it is because of them we have the strength to defeat any and all foes" I said taking a seat next to Spike and patting his head, his scales on top of his head gave way almost like stiff hair.

He closed his eyes and his lips moved in silent prayer, I leaned back my neck stiff from sitting so long, the faint smell of chicken wafting towards me, I close my eyes and ponder what the others did today, I hope Pinkie wasn't too upset.

"Wow they smell great actually!" Spike said suddenly, I heard Void get up and when I opened my eyes he was seasoning the cooking poultry with pepper and what smelled like basil.

"They taste better, foul is my favorite meat little lizard" Void said turning them over the fire, "Three are mine and you each get two, touch mine and you'll lose the hand"

Spike paled a little but I grinned, I might just for the fun of it, "Stop moaning, no ones going after your bird Void, for an immortal you complain a lot"

"Because I'm immortal I have a lot to complain about!" Void stuck his tongue out at me before turning the pheasants again.

Spike chuckled before watching the fire, his eyes seemed to want to close, he looked at me and smiled, "Thanks Stiles, I needed to get away from all those fussy girls"

Void scoffed before I could answer him, "Please, in about six months little lizard mares will be the only thing you think about" Void smirked and leaned back in his seat, "The training Stiles is putting you through will speed up your maturing process, you dragons have gotten lazy over the centuries, used to a young hatching like yourself would start working their bodies out, increasing their chances with the dragonesses their own age" he growled a little, "It's downright shameful these days, why if Gladir was here he'd knock some heads!"

"You seem rather upset about the goings of a different race Void, why do you care anyway?" I asked poking one of the roasting birds; the juices were nearly clear meaning they were close to being done.

"I created them that's why!" he threw his hands up, "They are the perfect focal points for magic, what I wanted was a mindless slave what I got was a winged lizard with a soul!" he kicked some embers that had fallen out of the fire back in, "You'd think they'd still have pride in themselves but no, they have to wait and not work for what they have"

"You created dragons?!" Spike said his mouth agape, "Wow so you're like my great, great, great, great, grandfather!"

Void stared blankly at Spike for a few seconds before speaking through his teeth, "Don't ever call my grandfather" it sounded more like a hiss than anything.

Spike sunk into his chair while I laughed, "C'mon Grampa Void, the birds are done!" I was laughing until Void threw a small ball of shadow at me it stung when it hit my chest but it was still funny.

I broke the spit into three pieces, handed a piece with two birds to Spike and three to Void who snatched it from me and growled at me, I snarled back at him but started smiling, Grampa Void, He'll never live it down. Spike watched us interact with fascination, I guess it would look weird two creatures snarling at each other like that, but that was just how Void was. He watched me as I started eating, he'd look at how I started eating it and mimicked me, it was cute but unsettling to be watched like that while I ate.

Spike had finished his first bird and started his second by the time I cleaned my first one, Void was meticulous while he tore all of his apart into strips before eating them. Spike looked at the carcass of the first pheasant and shuddered slightly before looking to me with a face that screamed, "What do I do with it now?"

"Just toss it in the fire" I said tossing my own stripped bird into the flames, he shrugged and followed suit.

He sighed contently tossing the stick and polished pheasant into the fire, he stood and stretched before wandering over to his pack and pulling out his sleeping bag, unrolling it close to the fire he wiggled into it and rolled over. "Goodnight Stiles, Mr. Void, wake me up when it's time to train again" soon after I could hear small snores coming from him.

Void harrumphed again drawing my attention away from the flickering flames, "He's resilient I'll give you that, and quick to accepting his new diet, me thinks he's always craved meat just didn't know what it was"

"More than a possibility" I said standing myself and getting my sleeping bag, "So I know the theory behind what you are training me to do, but the technique of it eludes me"

"Me as well, the next few days will be of discovery for the both of us, as you know I'll probably have to help you sustain the spell and your sanity while under its influence until you get a hang of it" A small shadow cot popped up from the ground just as Void fell backwards, "An interesting notion though huh?"

"Yeah, so what will we call it?" I asked getting comfortable letting the warmth of the fire heat my face.

"Dark Beast Form" Void said, "Just clichéd enough to sound awesome!" he sounded like an exited school girl.

"That's pretty bad" I said laughing

"Quiet when you make something up you get to name it" Void said rolling away from me and quickly falling asleep.

I soon followed.


	13. Chapter 13

**Hasbro owns all rights to MLP: FIM**

**Warning: POV Changes ahead**

Chapter Thirteen: The Darkness of a Hero

Spikes POV:

A hard shoe on my scales woke me; I was groggy and couldn't remember where I was or why my bed was so hard. "Spike wake up ya lazy lizard!" came an oily voice, snapping my eyes open I popped up to see Void, bringer of darkness looming over me, I looked around to see Stiles still asleep.

I remember the letter Twilight wrote to Celestia about this guy, the power he had, his seeming insanity and his uncaring reflection on life. This…..thing scared me.

"Mr. Void?!" I said rubbing my eyes, "Is everything ok?"

"Of course" Void huffed kneeling down, "I'd not wake you if it was an emergency, no I wished to give you a set of workouts today, and for me to tell you me and Stiles will be in a remote part of the ruins, you mustn't go there, whatever you hear, whatever you see, DO NOT FOLLOW US" He patted my spikes before standing back up, "Understand little lizard?"

I nodded not really understanding but this was Void and I didn't think 'no' was a good answer, "If you say so Mr. Void" I started stretching, I felt my stiff muscles loosen and I felt a little more awake, "So what's for me today?"

Void smirked a little before going passive again, "Again, in sets of forty, Pushups, Jumping jacks, and squat thrusts" he seemed to ponder a bit, "Then I want you to try and melt this rock" He tossed a fist sized stone at my feet, "With your dragon fire"

I was a little taken aback, "Sir I don't know how, my fire breath only teleports things to certain people" I didn't think I could spew real fire.

"Nonsense" Void took a deep breath and blew a twenty foot fireball into the sky, "It's a spell, same as the one you use to send messages, a different form but still a breath weapon spell, anything that can use magic and have the knowhow can use any breath weapon spell though it was the dragons to do it first, I should know I taught them it"

I'd never thought of my fire as magic, I thought it was just a special thing I could do, I guess that's still true since Twilight couldn't do it in quite the same way. But I have MAGIC!

"You mean I am can use magic like Twilight?" It was incredible to think so.

"What did I say last night?" Void said sounding irritated, "Dragons are the perfect focal point for magic, what you can do no other creature will be able to do on the same magnitude, the knowledge has been lost for some time now though how you lose something that's genetically coded into you I can't fathom, but that's why dragons are dwindling, but in you I see the hope to keep my children alive"

"Your children?" Everything I'd been told about Void was that he was stoic, emotionless and cruel, but he still wants Stiles to succeed in his mission, he still want's this world to survive, so is he all bad after all?

Void flushed lightly, "Don't you say a word" the cold dead look in his eyes made me rethink that last part, he was dangerous, deadly, and unremorseful when it came to his pride, "There are only a few who know instinctively how to use multiple breath weapons, most have to be taught these days"

Stiles grumbled sitting up, "What's with all the fireworks and shouting guys?" he yawned and stretched standing up and looking over at Void then down at me, "Morning guys"

Void didn't seem to want to continue talking about dragons as soon as Stiles sat up he started to ignore me, so maybe it was a sore spot he didn't want Stiles to see. Oh well there'd be time later to ask questions.

"Morning Stiles" I said looking for something to eat.

"Grab an apple and a slice of jerky, that's breakfast for the next few days, for lunch We'll have a small stew, and for dinner some greens and little meat" Stiles said grabbing an apple for himself and some jerky.

"That's all!?" I asked horrified, my stomach gave an almighty roar, "But I'm so hungry!"

Void leaned down and smacked me on the back of my head hard enough to toss me to the ground, "Stop whining you little bitch, we fast when we speed train, it boosts metabolism and muscle growth, don't like it leave maybe I was wrong about you"

"Void, there is no need to talk like that around a child, he is new to this" Stiles said coming to my defense, it had hurt what Void said, but being defended just because I was a kid…..that hurt worse.

I stood and stopped the tears that tried to fall, I would prove I was strong, I could endure, "I'm not a bitch, I will prove to you Void I can take anything you can give!" I felt my cheeks heat as I cursed, I'd never done that before.

Stiles slapped a hand over his eyes, "Great if you go back talking like that Twilight will never let you come with me again, Void you are a terrible influence" shaking his head Stiles laughed lightly, "Please refrain from talking like that, both of you"

"Hey Stiles" Void said grinning, "FUCK YOU!" and took off running backwards with his middle fingers pointed at Stiles, I didn't quite understand that part but it got Stiles mad and chased after him.

"Damn it Void I asked you nicely!"

"When has that ever stopped me you FUCKING BITCH OF A WHORE!" Void yelled the last part very loudly.

My ears were burning like fire; trying to ignore the flutters in my stomach I began my work outs, more pushups just great.

"Hey Void wait you didn't teach me…" I trailed off as I lost sight of them rounding a part of the ruins, "how to breath fire…..buck" I finished starting my pushups.

* * *

Stiles POV:

Void led me to the other side of the ruins, where we'd be out of sight of Spike, the bastard cursing like that in front of the young dragon really pissed me off. Void only did it for that reason alone, he liked giving me headaches on a daily basis, especially when he feels good.

Void stopped running and quickly turned to face me, I stopped inches from him, "Alright Stiles let's get this beast unleashed!" he yelled almost howling at the day, he was surprisingly tan for a creature of darkness.

I levitated my phone out of my pocket and started playing my "Darkness Rising" playlist, basically composed of Three Days Grace, Disturbed, and a little bit of Metalica songs, the first was Innocent by Disturbed which suited me just fine, all innocence was about to be lost.

"_Who is innocent no one's Innocent who is innocent!"_ the song started as I took my meditative stance.

"Focus on your shadow form, like we practiced that first night, turn your body to shadow, become one with the darkness that hides from the light!" Void said circling me with his hands behind his back.

My body grew cold as my skin darkened to black; soon my body became an incorporeal inky blackness that stood darker than the shadows cast by the ruins. My body shadow now I could not be hurt by any physical assault like this though magic could still do me great harm.

"_Who is innocent is irrelevant in the world today I shake my head in disbelief"_ continued the song, I was subconsciously bobbing to the music, meaning almost all else was far away from the front of my mind.

"Now, like you are gathering the immense magic from the forest, gather the shadows to your body, increase your mass and become solid, take the shape your heart tells you to take, let the darkness inside show through your new body" Void said, his voice raspy with excitement and speaking faster and faster by the word.

I focused on the lighter shadows and watched as they slithered towards me, as they were absorbed into my being I then focused on the darker and heavier ones. I felt a tug at my stomach, telling me these darker shadows would undoubtedly give me more power than the lighter ones. I felt my body growing, judging by Voids height I was nearly four times taller and wider than normal.

"_A fathers cruelty and murdered family has the world gone insane?!"_

I could feel the shadows reaching for my heart, tainting it and blackening it, I could feel my mind slip into the peaceful inky blackness they offered, "NO STILES!" Void screamed levitating up to my face, "NEVER LET THE SHADOWS IN YOUR HEART! NEVER!"

I shook my head and beat back at the shadows in my heart which hissed and writhed, "Now focus your soul, allow the Dark Magic in you to bleed throughout it, let it stain all of you, feel it seep into your core"

I didn't like the sound of that; I could hear Sky and the others in the back of my mind telling me to stop but….did I really want to?

I opened my soul to the Dark Magic that I kept willfully contained and a sudden power filled my limbs and my heart ached and screamed, the image that flooded my mind instantly shifted my shadow body to that of a Beast.

Hunching over I felt my vertebrae and limbs dislocate and relocate so that I crouched with animal like legs and sharp claws scraping the ground. Pain filled my mind as my face contorted to a snout full of razor teeth and shadow fur erupted from my body as it turned solid, solid with shadows so deep that I stood in stark contrast with the noon sun.

"Perfect" I heard Void whisper, "You are perfect!"

I was going to say something snarky but for a sudden and intense flame igniting in my chest, my heart was screaming in my mind and making my body burn. SO MUCH BURNING! I WAS BURNING FROM THE INSIDE!

My fanged mouth opened and a primordial roar filled the forest with its echoing, stumbling the ground shook with my mighty steps as I felt the darkness surround my heart and move in. I was losing control, losing who and what I was I could feel my mind erode away.

"Stiles….Stiles….stay with me Stiles" Void said trying to get my attention and nearly getting stepped on, it'd have been funny if I wasn't in so much pain, "STILES! DO NOT LET THE DARKNESS CONTROL YOU CONTROL IT!"

My heart was eaten away quickly but it seemed to take an eternity, "GUAHHHRAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

My heart consumed by the shadows, why did I care, it was nothing to worry about; no there were more important things.

Like why this…thing was waving its arms around gaining my attention….its face seemed to stir something in my mind but oh well, he was here…I was bored, I'll just kill him and eat him.

I stopped staggering as the phantom pain of something I no longer cared about faded; the creature looked relieved till my claws severed the left half of his torso from his body. Instead of falling dead at my feet like I expected the thing merely looked shocked as his left arm and torso fell to the ground, black blood gushing from his side, he side stepped my next swing and managed to jump and kick my chest hard enough to stagger me back.

"**WHAT A PESKY LITTLE CREATURE!**" I roared at him, my mouth open I focused the dark energy swirling inside me and a small concentrated dark orb came into being before firing off like some kind of laser, for some odd reason a phrase popped into my head that made me chuckled as the two legged thing barely dodged my blast, '_I'm a firin mah lazor!'_

The thing retaliated with his own energy blast, a black ball of light hit me squarely in the chest throwing me backwards into the dilapidated ruins behind me. With much cracking and squelching stone, debris fell all around me and buried me, as much stone as it was it would have crushed a physical body but at that moment my body became incorporeal and I slithered out through the cracks in the rubble.

By the time I was fully formed as a physical manifestation of shadow the creature had more two legged things waiting for me. A small army of creatures made of shadow, I watched as black tendrils erupted from the creatures back, now that I knew what to look for I felt the shift in the shadows around me. This….man drew the strength of the shadows to himself to stop the bleeding of what should have been a grievous wound. What a strange word to say…man…what is a man?

"**Creature of darkness!"** I shouted at him the knowledge of words not mine, **"I will consume your body and soul and I will be the only shadow master!"** I charged at him throwing my arms wide, and with each step there would be twice as many as myself, with just a few steps I had a small army made of doppelgangers, though I felt my power be cut with each creation.

My power divided by twenty, and still I felt limitless, what am I? Did it matter? Why would I care?

Me, the original focused on the man while my copies faced his shadow creatures, all of which were one hundred in number. I deflected several whip like attacks from his tendrils from long distance, throwing my arm forward it shot farther than I thought it could, extending like a rubber band, my clawed hand nearly captured the man, the tip of my claws brushing his coat tails as he jumped straight up.

I roared my displeasure as ebony wings sprouted from his back, **"I will make you flightless soon my pretty bird, so enjoy the wind while you can!"**

Holding my hands up with my claw tips following the man as he circled from above I felt a tug from my blackened core as energy swirled around my claws, ten small orbs of dark magic condensed as I let fly small bursts of beams. Many found their mark, singeing holes in the mans wings, it seemed while missing his left side wouldn't kill him it slowed him down. He soon made a quick controlled dissent as my small attacks faded.

Explosions drew my attention; five of my counterparts had fallen as the shadow creatures erupted in blinding, burning, and harsh light. I felt the ground shudder as six of the things latched onto my double and detonated like TNT. As I watched my likeness fall and fade its power was not restored to me, but absorbed by the man, how dare he take MY POWER!

"**YOU TAKE MY POWER MOTHERFUCKER!" **I knew not what I said but did know it was quite the insult,** "NOW YOU'VE REALLY PISSED ME THE FUCK OFF!" **From my power more creatures were birthed, more things to stand between me and my opponent, they leapt for me but I swatted them aside, they exploded as they hit the ground, small craters being the only reminder of their existence, pitiful.

More and more of the creatures arose from the lengthening shadows, and more and more of my likeness faded from existence, but I would not go so easily. Fighting my way through the hoard I finally planted my foot squarely upside the man's head sending him crashing through a few trees. Stunned and bleeding from his wounds I charged another….Dark Blast in my mouth.

Only to have it snuffed out as my form was suddenly sent to the ground writhing in agony, my right arm smoking at the elbow, the rest bleeding away to return to calm shadow. Who?

A crack of thunder roared through the small space of the court yard.

I turned, my last double falling prey to the creatures, to see a lone baby dragon, smoke wisping from his mouth, standing tall and proud on the rubble of a once beautiful castle loft. Moving with speed gained through pain I stood before this small dragon, barely the size of my little toe.

"**Bravery or stupidity has just cost you your life little one"** I drew my hand back meaning to impale him with my claw, but my claw stopped only a second from his chest…..memories stirring I squint at him… he was…my….frie…nd, **"Spike?"** the uncertainty and weakness in my voice angered me and with a casual flick of my fingers I sent the cowering dragon head first in what remained of a stone wall.

I watched with conflicted feelings as he thumped listlessly to the ground.

"_SPIKE! STILES!"_ a new feminine voice filled my head, _"STILES WHATS GOING ON!"_ who is this creature to give my actions pause, to cause this…._warmth_ in my dead heart?

I will find this creature and crush its skull between my incisors, I start to turn back to the man but my body spasms as a warmth fought free from my heart and burned back the cool shadows. I felt the tendrils of my enemy form a net and drag me to the ground….I have to flee….I have to run…..I do not want to disappear like the others!

I must FLEE!

A pinch and tug from my back and black leathery wings took form and started pumping, with each powerful stroke I gained a few feet. I felt the tendrils strain and knew my freedom was nigh.

* * *

Spikes POV:

My head was ringing in agony as I slowly sat up cradling it trying to make the throbbing stop, "SPIKE! WHAT EVER YOU DID DO IT AGAIN I CANT HOLD HIM MUCH LONGER!"

Voids shout snapped my head up no matter the pain, I remember now why I was hurt, Stiles went batshit cazy! "Void I'm all out sorry!" I yell struggling to stand, but when I do I look up to see the beast of Stiles twenty foot in the air, the shadow tendrils dark against the evening sky.

"DIG DEEP YOU LITTLE DRAGON BITCH AND FIRE ANOTHER ONE OR HE'LL ESCAPE AND KILL COUNTLESS PONIES YOU FOOL THIS IS NO TIME TO TELL ME YOUR TIRED WELL BOO HOO PRINCESS I'M MISSING MOST OF MY UPPER BODY SO CRY ME A RIVER BUILD A BRIDGE AND GET OVER IT YOU CUNT!" came Voids long winded insulting rebut but I saw more of the tendrils snap and Stiles gain another five feet.

"DAMN IT!" I yelled and reached deep within my soul, I felt a power I couldn't believe was mine, so strong and pure, I called for it to rise and give me strength.

My mouth snapped open further than I thought it could, what Void didn't know was that it wasn't fire that I blew at Stiles.

I could see a white light, much larger and brighter than the one before begin to glow from deep in my throat, the now familiar tingling sensation deep in my chest. I let my power pool and condense as I noticed a small flash of lavender from behind me not bothering myself with it I let my attack go.

A bolt of electricity shot from my mouth with speed of light, fanning outward like a wave and engulfing Beast Stiles in blinding light. I felt my power dip suddenly and the attack faded and a new wave of immense thunder caused the ground to shudder violently sending several stone walls to collapse. Beast Stiles smoking body thudded to the ground as I fell on my butt barely able to blink.

I forced myself to stand, "S-Spike?" I turned to see an absolutely stunned Twilight, funny I don't remember being at eye level with her, "What happened?"

I shrug and scratch my head walking over to the motionless Beast Stiles where Void was currently limping, "The fuck if I know" I say, I heard Twilight gasp "Spike!"

She started trotting alongside me, "One minute I'm trying to figure out how to blow fire only to have lighting come out instead and the next thing I know I see this giant creature slam into the ruins and Void fighting with one arm OH Watch Out!"

But it was too late, Twilight tripped over Voids severed arm and torso, when she saw it she turned an amazing shade of green and barfed all over it. "Void I hope you weren't wanting your arm back cause Twilight just barfed on it!" I call to him as the shadows leaked from Stiles revealing him as untouched from the battle.

"No thank you, it'll regenerate in a few days, that does not mean we are leaving early so forget asking, and yes I will have more exercises for you tomorrow" Void said kicking Stiles in the head repeatedly.

Stiles suddenly sat up coughing, "What the fuck…I thought you'd….*cough*….be able to keep my sanity" Stiles said standing and stretching like nothing happened.

"Don't blame me, you let the darkness near your heart and this is what happens" He reached out and backhanded Stiles to the ground, "That's for taking my arm"

Stiles groaned and shook his head but didn't retaliate, "SO how awesome was I guys?" I said grinning, I noticed I was nearly chest level with Stiles and Void.

Void turned to me smiling, "How ever did you learn lightening breath before fire?" he clapped me on the shoulder, "That is quite impressive, and look at you what a fucking growth spurt you went through, now you look like a proper baby dragon not a hatchling!" he finished ruffling the spines on my head.

I took stock of my body, all the softness was gone, and my tail was longer and more defined, dragging the ground. Small spikes had formed on my elbows and knees as well as thicker scales on my arms, legs and back. My spines were longer and a more lush green, my snout was longer, more defined and filled with sharp teeth, "Heh well it's a long story and I'd like to eat while I tell it, mind grabbing dinner Void?"

Void grinned and disappeared while I helped Stiles to his feet, I was about to ask if he was ok but was interrupted.

"What?" was all Twilight said, I had forgotten she was there. She was looking at us like we had three heads each.

"I told you….my training can get out of hand" Stiles offered weakly stumbling towards camp.

I shrugged my shoulders and followed behind him, Twilight followed silently. When I looked back she was taking stock of the ruins. There were craters every few feet, whole sections of walls destroyed, oh and pools of Voids blood. She skirted around the severed arm, heaving and looking worse than any of us.

What a day.

* * *

**Guess What Guys! I have internet at my house for the first time in over 5 years! I'll be able to update more often now! I'll still do it in fours or if you guys prefer one at a time, just let me know ok?**

**I'm looking for reviews and I'd like to thank my three followers for liking my story so much!**

**Remember reviews fuel me, so get ta typing!**


	14. Chapter 14

**WOW I know it's not much but WOW! Already got people favoring and following and over 500 views YAY! Thanks guys, not a lot of comments but that's ok, thank you for those who have and I hope to see more from you! That last chapter was a doozy but I think this one might just top it!**

**Hasbro controls all rights to the original MLP: FIM characters and cast; only my OCs are mine.**

Chapter Fourteen: Who We Are, Protectors or Murderers?

Spikes POV:

Sitting around the small fire I built by shooting a small spark of electricity into some kindling…so cool…I regaled Twilight and Stiles of how I found my Lightening Breath.

"So I was trying to figure what to think of as to fire, so I thought 'friction and heat' but apparently friction and heat also leads to lightning and BAM an arc of electricity shatters the rock in front of me to bits!" I finished laughing.

Stiles was chuckling but Twilight was still eerily silent, "That's logical, in my world where weather controls itself, dry air from below slides against cold air from above and that friction can lead to dry lightning" He sighed rubbing his cheek where Void had sucker punched him.

I saw the darkness deepen and Void step out into the fire light, summoning a chair for himself he plopped down and started to warm his hand, "I have dinner but it's a little bit more than I can handle right now"

I highly doubted that, "Um….okay says the dragon that saw you beat back a monster with one hand and the other severed"

The look Void shared with me made me remember who was really sitting there, "Well okay, wanna see what I'm really up to?" with a snap of his fingers Void separated me from the others a green translucent wall erupted around me bathing me and Void in green light, Stiles and Twilight were banging on the outside of the wall but with no effect.

Void snapped his fingers again and a massive boar, easily three times as big as me, wrapped in chains appeared by his side, a maniacal look in his eye Void petted the beast like a dog, "Say 'ello to dinna!" he said cackling at me, "You see you made a mistake" he said pacing towards me, "One you dare order _ME_ to get you dinner, and two this is called First Blood, when a young dragon learns his first Breath he then must conquer a beast with tooth and claw, you see I want you to know what it means to be Dragoon, Dragon of Old, a true master of Breath"

"VOID THAT IS GOING TO FAR TO SOON!" I looked back at Stiles, he looked pale green from this side of the wall, he was still banging on the wall, Twilight was trying to use magic but absolutely nothing was happening.

Seeing both of them powerless while a creature I had crossed cackled louder behind me I realized right then….I was in mortal danger. I could die, and help was a hairs breath away but unable to aid me, only I could save myself and that…..froze me to the spot.

"Oh ho ho come now Spike, where was that bravado you showed only a few minutes ago, where is your heart now little dragon?" Void taunted me, I turned slowly as he raised and lowered his hand, the chains snapping from the boar, with a guttural roar the beast charged.

I stood there, the ground shaking with each pounding step as this monster bore down on me and I couldn't move, my legs trembled, my mind screamed, and my soul cowered, "Move little Thunder Drum, or your life will end here and now!" Void howled to the sky….he was mad…completely and absolutely insane!

"SPIKE YOU MUST MOVE, FIGHT, SPIKE MOVE!" Stiles screamed, shaking my head I lunged to the left just as the boar rushed past headlong into the wall, the sudden stop seemed to only make it angrier as it shook its head and turned back to me, "WATCH IT, STUDY IT, FIGHT IT WITH ITS OWN WEAKNESSES, AND SPIKE YOU MUST KILL IT, FOR YOU TO LIVE IT MUST DIE!"

"He is speaking truth little Thunder Drum, you live, it dies, you die, it lives, simple rules don't forget them" Void whispered in my ear, but I only turned to retreating shadows.

"SPIKE NO SPIKE NO PLEASE VOID DON'T MAKE SPIKE DO THIS PLEASE!" Twilight screamed at the night, her terror only made the shadows dance and writhe with happiness.

My body was cold, I was sweating and my muscles burned but I was cold, thinking back through the books of anatomy Twilight was reading back in Canterlot. Adrenaline, that was making everything cold and hot, slow and fast, super focused and blurry, there were a few articles about wild life, the skin of wild animals are tough and armor like, but the underside of the neck and belly are soft and weak.

I watched closely, the adrenaline letting me see details so small I'd have missed them before…..there was a small pause before each step on its left side, a hitch in its stride, maybe an old injury?

A weakness.

As I dodged its charge again it whipped its head sideways catching my side with one of its three-foot tusks, a thin line of blood trailed hotly down my ribcage, I couldn't feel the pain, another dangerous attribute to adrenaline. I saw its neck; I could latch on with my jaws my new teeth perfect for severing important bits…but my mind blanked at killing something that only wanted to survive itself.

A quick blow to the stomach from a flailing hoof rocketed me to the ground several yards away. Busy with my morals I hadn't seen it rear back with its hind legs, sloppy of me, but the weight was still in my mind. Could I kill to save my own life?

Stiles could…Stiles was resolute, he was strong, not afraid of killing, he had a purpose, something to kill for, something to live for and die for. What did I have?

I had Twilight, Rarity…I couldn't stand to make Fluttershy cry, I'm sure Rainbow and Applejack wouldn't forgive me if I just rolled over and died, and Pinkie…what would she celebrate…my death?

I can't kill, not for myself, not for my wants, but I think I could if it was for my friends. This beast's blood will stain my claws, so they may hold my friends again, "You will die by my claws, by my teeth!" I yelled as I rushed the boar as he did me, again that hitch on the left side; just as he lowered and threw his head up, trying to impale me I slid under his chin.

Throat exposed it tried to shift its momentum but couldn't, I launched up and wrapped my arms around its neck and latched my mouth around the tender underside of its throat, right over its jugular. My sudden weight on its left side threw off the boars balance and threw us to the ground; using its momentum I rolled it till I was atop it. Biting down hard and raring back I felt flesh and vein separate, hot blood spurted from the gaping hole in its neck, splashing me from head to chest.

A growl too feral to be real loosed itself from me, spitting the chunk of flesh out I latched on again as the beast still writhed beneath me. This time my teeth found its windpipe, with a crushing and whistling sound I squeezed and again tore flesh from the boar, a harsh gurgling and gasping came from this new hole. Soon I felt the boars thrashing slow…..then still…and final gasping exhale it lay still.

"I….I…" I was stammering as I slid from the animal, shaking uncontrollably I stumbled away and fell to my knees retching, nothing but bile coming up, I continued to throw up as the wall slowly faded.

Pounding hooves and feet rushed to me, I was back beside the fire, the boar next to me, the smell of blood and the dense musk of the animal itself made Twilight gag as she bent and kneeled beside me, "S-Spike?" Twilight seemed unsure as she spoke.

"Spike buddy, hay it's okay….it's okay" Stiles said also kneeling beside me and patting my back, "Void that was too far" by the sound of his voice Stiles wasn't looking at me.

I raised my head and saw Void, shadow wrapped closely around his left side, shrugging off Stiles' hand and brushing past Twilights light nuzzling I stood tall, feeling the blood of the boar drip from my jaws, and by Twilights gasp she saw the gore adorning my muzzle. I approached Void holding my right side where the boar had nearly gored me, "I….I did it" I said my voice a harsh whisper, I couldn't control my shaking, "I…k-kill…killed it…I am of Dragoon, I am of Dragons Old"

"Yes" Void said smiling kindly, wiping blood from my cheek, almost fatherly, "Yes my little Thunder Drum" he flicked my snout lightly, "But you have yet a ways to go"

Clapping his hand to his chest in a mock applause Void beamed at Stiles, "Now let's EAT!" he picked the boar up by its tusk and dragged it to a tree where black tendrils of shadow stung it up spread eagle, its head barely attached with what was left of its neck.

I nearly lost it again but I only dry heaved, Twilight doing the same, she was transfixed by the dead animal, fear permeating the air around her, Stiles was stoic, not one bit of emotion even flickered across his face, "Well…the head was going to come off any way…" Void reached up again grabbing a tusk and with a sudden jerk and squelching rip he snatched the boars head off, fresh gore spilling to the ground.

"Oh….Oh my" Twilight whispered before dropping like a rock.

"Twilight!" I yelled rushing towards her, Stiles was there in a flash…I….I didn't see him move….. "Is she okay?" I asked kneeling beside her.

"Just fainted" Stiles said, he looked up at me and did a smiling grimace, "Congratulations on your first kill Spike, I'm sorry you had to suffer through that…it was unfair and uncalled for" he looked to Void who was smiling at us, "You and I will have words Void, mark me, we will have words"

His tone was flat but the rage I felt beneath his cold calm was…..terrifying…

"I can't wait" Void said grinning like a demon, "Now while the Sister Hoof Social there is out teach this young dragon how to prepare wild game, and be quick I'm positively starved from all the fun I've had today!"

"Come on let's put her on our sleeping bags" Stiles said slowly lifting her like a small filly, "Spike…go wash up…you've got blood drying in your spines"

Standing, I slowly walked over to my pack and took a canteen out and drenched myself with its water, feeling the congealing blood loosen and slide down my new body. I felt different….I felt tainted but….

"The cost of being what we are…" Stiles said standing over Twilight, looking at her with a peaceful smile on his face, when he looked at me that smile faded and I saw a glimpse of the warrior he hid so well, "…is steep…but the good that comes from it, is what keeps us who we are"

"Without your friends my little Thunder Drum" Void voiced suddenly, "You are a murderer" my veins froze as I looked at him, "But with them…you are a protector" his eyes were somber but a blissful smile adorned his face.

"What do I do now" I asked, "I never fit in before, always too weak to help in any way, but now…I feel different….I feel…." I struggled for the word but I couldn't find it though Stiles did.

"Powerful" Stiles walked around the fire, facing me I only saw his silhouette, "You have taken life, you will never fit into their world now, they will not know that power, they will not understand it, it is a terrible power, one we must hold, so no other must suffer so" He patted my shoulder, "You have killed tonight, you will have to kill again, and again, and again, until there is no enemy left to kill, until every single soul is safe, until the day your final breath leaves you, you will kill"

I could feel my heart beating frantically, what I was becoming, what I had already become, could I still find love….could I still be with the mare of my dreams….. "You asked what now" Stiles said, I looked up to him, barely able to see his eyes, "You continue, after my mission is accomplished I plan on finding a quiet knoll and building a house, maybe try my hand at romance….have some foals if I can, just because we must do what others are not willing and should never have to do, doesn't mean we don't get a happy ending"

"Why?" I asked, "Why me, I was nothing, a pony of a dragon, unable to breath simple fire, why all of a sudden, why out of the blue do I get this responsibility, why don't I have a choice?"

"The same reason I didn't" Stiles said walking towards the boar beckoning me, "Greatness calls those who _CAN_ not those who _WANT_, those who do not seek power are often the most worthy to wield it"

I was not satisfied with that, but I remember what Void said, my friends make me a protector, I remember why Stiles is here, this isn't his world, this isn't his problem, he is here because he believes life is sacred. But he knows the harsh truth, some enemies cannot be made into friends, and it is then that the value of one life over countless is called to question, and he….no _WE_ are the ones to answer it.

* * *

_Out skirts of Equestria's borders, a small settlement of ponies is watched with hungry eyes and drooling maws_

"Now" came the whisper in the minds of the hive.

The attack was supposed to be quick, lives ended and bellies filled, but that wasn't what happened, no what happened opened the door, now if only it could be kept that way.

Glorious screaming and cries, the changeling drones fed quickly leaching the life from stallion and mare alike, the queen stepped from the shadows, already buildings alight with flame. She smiled and laughed as a small foal ran across her path, a sudden strike and the foal was knocked unconscious. She bent to fill the void with in her only to see black chitin of a drone, confused she looked closer, this one had a mane and tail.

" Pure….w-w….white" The queen changeling backed away, white mane and tail, crimson eyes…why him…why was _he_ here, she rubbed her eyes and there was the foal, frozen in fear, a drone came up from behind and was about to feast on the freighted foal, a quick blast of magic melted the drone instantly.

All the commotion stopped, drones and ponies alike stopped to look at the deranged looking queen, "Leave the foals, kill the others" her orders simple but the drones didn't understand…why was their queen showing lenience to these walking bags of emotion?

Ignoring her; a drone bit into a small filly, instantly severing her spine at the base of her skull, the drone was snatched up by magic and slammed against a stone wall till green ichor splattered it. It was then pulled, dazed, toward its queen, and for all to see she consumed its soul.

"Anyone else feel like defying me?"

And thus all the fillies and colts were herded with one selected adult into a building, guarded by the queen herself, food was brought before her, but all she saw were those crimson eyes and snowy mane, "Six hundred years since the last I saw those eyes, and the power they hold over me has not dwindled" she whispered into the ear of a trembling mare before kissing her deeply as if she were her lover, pulling the last of the mares soul into her being.

The foals and their sitter cowered in fear as the screams and pleas of mercy slowly faded, soon day broke through the windows and the door was opened. The foal sitter was the first to leave, not a changeling in sight, only scattered corpses and rivers of blood.

Queen Chrysalis of the Changelings had entered Equestria.

* * *

**And so it begins at last! How many villages will fall before the Changelings are discovered? Are the mane six ready for a confrontation with a Queen? What exactly is in Pinkies super-secret Cupcake recipes? What threats are closer to home then even the princesses are a aware of? Only Time knows and he's not sharing!**


End file.
